Nearly every time we eat potatos for dinner in my family my mother reminds us that “it’s thanks to potatos that you’re all here!” She is, of course, referring to the Irish potato famine that drove our ancestors to the United States (so actually, it’s thanks to a LACK of potatoes that I’m here) and ended up producing me, the ever-irish Clancy Boyd.
get it? Stout! Get it?!?
I promised myself that when I studied abroad I would actually study abroad and explore the country I lived in instead of country-hopping. I hoped to escape the inevitable faux study abroad experience (“Yeah, I am so cultured, I’ve been to English-speaking bars in eleven countries!”) After soaking up Parisian culture [and, admittedly, Parisian bar culture] for three months though, I wanted to visit the country whose potato blight led to my existence.
Long story short, Ireland is beautiful. The food and the beer are way too intense. In Paris “soup” implies someone put delicious vegetables in a blender, in Dublin it implies that someone put an entire cow as well as several pounds of diced vegetables in a bowl and called it a day. The Guiness factory was pretty cool (not only do I know how to taste wine in a pretentious way, beer too!) but the best part of the trip was wandering around. Luckily there weren’t too many touristy things to do, so we didn’t feel guilty just taking a street to see where it took us.
Look, I’m experiencing the host culture!
We explored most of Temple Bar (the downtown area of Dublin) in just a few hours. Here are the highlights: we purchased onesies, discovered that it’s legal – and encouraged – to drink on the streets, bought claddagh rings, tried on leprauchan costumes, communed with the statues everywhere, and found a bajillion souvenirs with my family crest on it. Things I noticed about my newly Parisian self: I’m pretty sure I will be saying “pardonnez-moi” instead of “excuse me for the rest of my days”, my passport is seriously decked out now, and I dream in French, not English.
Bisous,
Clancy T.
Clancy Tripp
<p><span style="color: rgb(29, 29, 29); font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; background-color: rgb(237, 237, 237);">Clancy Tripp is a junior at Claremont McKenna double-majoring in Literature and Film Studies with a minor in Gender Studies. In the past few years she has lived in Indiana, California, Washington D.C., and Chicago studying and working in arts and literacy education. Good luck keeping her in the same place for more than a year. True to form, she will be spending the Fall semester in Paris, France where she will spend as much time as possible with local French children, explore every arrondissement, and sample every pain au chocolat available!</span></p>
