The living/dining/working area of my apartment in Dublin.
My “integrated” kitchen — the cabinet fronts hide the dishwasher, combined washer/dryer, refrigerator, and freezer.
Your guest bedroom.
Dave and Shannon’s room.
Dinner with Mom (right) and her neighbors from Pennsylvania, Mary and Tim. They arrived today for a two-week visit. And, then Tim and Mary hosted dinner at my place tonight! What great house guests!
The class I taught this past summer at The College of William and Mary is being featured by the university’s public relations department for helping students move ideas into action and spurring environmental change. Check it out at:
One of our many field trips in the summer “Educational Planning for Environmental Sustainability” class at William and Mary. This one, to the campus herb gardens, was coordinated by student Justine Okerson and led by W&M’s current Sustainability Fellow, Patrick Foley. The cafeterias at W&M get all the herbs they use from these gardens.
Ryanair luggage size check. This lucky lady made the cut. She can take her bag on… with no additional charge. (The friar in line behind her didn’t.)
Ryanair has very strict carry-on policies….
…and after I paid, using my iPad at the airport to check my “oversized” bag, I made the cut, too! This is all I brought onboard for the second leg of my flight.
This is the size bag you’re allowed to carry on.
It’s all sort of like waiting for the bus… no reserved seats. You just get on and pick a place you like.
There were some raised voices regarding the friar’s bag. He and the gate agents were still arguing, even as he and his rolled toward the plane… but they did eventually let him slide by with an extra inch of baggage dimension.
Finally, we could all travel in peace. Happily, a rainbow followed us most of the way to Greece.
Yow pay for all extras… but that’s no so bad, because you get to pick exactly what you want to pay for… and to eat. You order out of a magazine. The ham and cheese croissant and green tea cost me 4.50 Euro.
It wasn’t exactly “flying the friendly skies,” but I’m glad to have had the chance to fly with Ryanair.
View eastward on the Liffey, looking toward the Ha’penny Bridge. Taken walking to my 10 am meeting….
Everything started peacefully enough. I arrived to my research meeting with a few minutes to spare and stopped in to see the church ruins located beside my office in the electrical engineering department. Up until now, I’ve been working almost exclusively with engineers here at the DIT. During this morning’s meeting with an engineer and a physicist, Sima called and asked me to lunch….
View towards Four Courts (the round dome to the right), which is Ireland’s version of the US Supreme Court.
This School just got its own newly renovated building (mostly complete), called Linenhall. They are using all of this as an opportunity to redefine themselves.
My office in the electrical engineering department is just north of the church. The building is referred to as “Church Street” and now I know why! The desk man at Ireland’s Higher Education Administration (HEA) office, where the Fulbright staff work, told me to look for the church in the park….
The DIT School of Architecture says “Hi!”
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It takes some adjusting to Greek signage, with it’s mix of Greek and non-Greek words. What can you understand from the beverage list above?
I got something close to what I imagined I was ordering, but wayyyyy full of sugar. I was hoping for a crepe with fruit, but got gooey strawberry-flavored creme instead. Later that night, I was still finding bits of pink icing in interesting places. Including a dot of it on the tip of my nose.
…there’s no telling what you might order.
One thing you can count on in Europe is being able to find the IKEA. They’re located in the country’s biggest cities (including Dublin which is Ireland’s largest city, and Thessaloniki, which is Greece’s second largest city).
I’ve noticed that IKEA is often located near the airport. And in Europe, the public bus always goes to IKEA. The busses in Dublin and Thessaloniki say “IKEA” right across the front of the bus, in day-glow letters. It’s apparently hypnotizing, and no human seems able to resist.
Sign at the airport for the IKEA bus.
The Prezi presentation I delivered at SEFI.
SEFI attendees 2012 — I’m at the lower left.
The SEFI conference was one of the most fun conferences I’ve ever attended. They claim to be a family and it certainly felt that way. This was my first conference with engineers. I suspect this special feeling of belonging may be specific to the European Society of Engineering Educators (SEFI). It also helped in making me feel welcome that the whole Irish delegation claimed me as their own!
The Irish group included the Dean of our college at the DIT (Mike Murphy), a recent PhD who teaches at the institute of technology at Tallah (Eileen Goold), a lecturer from Trinity College (Kevin Kelley), and a scholar (Bill Williams) who has been working in Portugal for 18 years but hails from Cork (in Southern Ireland, near where my great grandmother set sail for Ellis Island). Also at the conference were Gavin Duffy and myself.
SEFI 2012 banquet — the Irish table, with friends from Spain.
Part of the reason I had so much fun at SEFI was that I knew a lot of people — or got to know them quickly. That’s because the Irish friendliness is contagious. I couldn’t be the wall-flower I am at most conferences. Moreover, our Dean is really a great leader. He knows everyone and he also know show to make people feel welcome. The last night, after the conference dinner at the Hyatt, we all went for a beer in a quaint part of town. A contingent of Finnish students came along with us.We sat outside in a gorgeous little plaza. When I say that Mike is a great leader, this evening provides an illustration. Mike wanted to sing Irish pub songs and he managed to convince us all to sing despite our initial reluctance.
The Finns shared their songs and we found a few tunes everyone knew (What Can You Do With a Drunken Sailor and the ever-popular Bring Me Home Country Roadwhich is of course, about West Virginia, the state one half hour’s drive from my hometown).
Drs. Eileen Goold and Mike Murphy
We sang until the pub closed at 2 PM. I’m quite sure the neighboring residents were glad to hear The singing stop. On this particular evening, few of us could carry a tune. This level of zest is something I would never have endorsed in an American group… but when with the Irish, do as the Irish do!
At SEFI, I met a load (as the Irish would say) of interesting folks. I even spent an entire lunch hour talking one-on-one with the current president of SEFI, Prof. Dr. Wim Van Petegem. What an honor!
Perhaps I’ll be able to coordinate visits to universities in Belgium, Portugal, and Spain where I’ve made new connections. All of them have Fulbright offices that may be able to help.
The plaza with our favorite watering hole… in the short brick building to the right. Much quieter the morning after our raucousness!
Inside of the Gaiety Theater, mentioned in Oscar Wilde’s “Dubliners.”
It’s hard to feel lonely when you have a Facebook community to lean on. Being five hours ahead of the time at home can make me feel a little isolated on Sunday mornings, when the people I love most are still asleep. But what do you know, another Fulbright living in Ireland jumped right in this morning via FB and offered solidarity.
Scene from Wilde’s story about the characters of Dublin, set in 1848.
I perked up after heading across town to the Gaiety Theater for a Sunday matinee. Oscar Wilde’s stories were delightful due to some great choreography and skillful acting. Perhaps he didn’t mean it to be so comical, but nevertheless, it was a highly entertaining theatrical production. It was delivered entirely in third person to keep true to Wilde’s text (which wasn’t penned for the stage). The stories involve a bunch of off-beat personalities, but most of them are lovable enough. I’m sure the book itself could get depressing, but the play seldom did.
Anyone care to join me?
There was even a singer in the play who reminded me of my Dad’s cousin, Robin Massie. With her beautiful curly red hair, super-cheery personality, and incredible soprano voice, Robin could definitely find a place on stage here.
Sunday afternoon streets are always full of people — as long as the rain holds off.
The design of the Gaiety Theater is itself a treat. Inside, it looks a lot like the Olympia (which I posted a picture of previously), except that this theater is bigger. It’s where Riverdance performs, for instance.
I also finally sought out the Cornucopia restaurant. It specializes in vegetarian, wheat-free, gluten-free, vegan, and sugar-free options. And, believe it or not, they also specialize in delicious dishes! I wonder: How on earth did it take me so long to find this place? Mark (at the Kildare Street Hotel) told me about it weeks ago.
Shopping for light bulbs, a bell pepper, and ginger root on the way home… along with everyone else!
The play and a warm bowl of soup did wonders for my day. The rain showers melted into sunshine. The afternoon streets filled with people. I even found one of the light bulbs I needed to purchase while I was on the way home (even the light bulbs are different from what we have at home, and so keeping each light fixture aglow offers me new challenges.)
Shopping successful, tummy full, and Shannon happy, I returned home to reflect and transcribe.
PS — My new URL is shannonchance.net to save you a few keystrokes. If you receive my blog posts by email, I recommend you click the title of the piece when they arrive, so you can read the online version. That way you get a better graphic experience (and sometimes a few less type-os). Now, if only I could figure out how to control this crazy template’s layout.
An urban reflection from today.
Reflection in Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki was amazing! I had most of a day to explore the city before the conference started. I had no trouble getting around and the Greek people were amazingly helpful.
Inside the down of the Agia Sophia church.
I was lucky to be exploring the city on a Sunday because all the churches were open for celebrating mass. I observed christenings in two different churches–one that has a basilica (Christian cross) plan and another with a Byzantine cross plan (where all the arms have equal length). The basilica plan is typical of Roman planning (of Roman Catholic heritage) and the other (like San Marco in Venice) is typical of Greek Orthodox planning.
This area was under control of the Ottoman Empire for a period of time, after it belonged to the Roman Empire, and the Ottomans worked to convert the Christians to Islam. There are Roman and Byzantine scattered artifacts throughout Thessaloniki.
I missed the actual baptism and anointing, but after that a team of women dressed the baby head to toe. Here the parents presented the fully-dressed child.
All set up outside for the after-baptisim festivities.
In the past, I had heard that the riots I’d witnessed in Rome were organized by anarchists from the Balkins, and not by Italian people. I’ve been in or near Rome for two, both of which were in response to visits by President Bush the second.
I can’t vouch for the accuracy of that claim, but it certainly seems possible to me now that I’ve seen the anarchists in action in Greece.
I love to see depictions of saints holding models of churches. This one appears to have a Byzantine cross plan.
Each time they enter the church, they visit each important relic. And kiss each and every one!
Overall, I was amazed at how orderly the others on the flight were in loading the plane and, later, waiting for luggage. Several of them even waited for my luggage–the very last of the set–to emerge before they set off for the city. They went out of their way to make sure I was okay!
In the interim, I had helped people make their connections by providing advice on how to have baggage delivered directly to their homes. It was great to be of assistance! (It wasn’t the first time I awaited lost luggage in Rome.)
I lit a candle in honor of Dave’s dad.
On another note: it feels terrific to know the landmarks of Italy and of Rome well enough to get around without a map. Yesterday, when the busses of Rome were detoured around the city center, I was able to help many tourists find their way. I don’t even need a map for getting around Dublin, because I spent so much time apartment shopping on line before I arrived!
I’m learning the ropes of budget flights in Europe because I’m headed to Greece for an engineering education conference. Heather and Dave warned me about baggage limitations in Europe! (No wonder people wear so little on vacation at the beach here! They’re not allowed to bring more than a Speedo with them!)
My bag was 2cm too deep. It fit in the bin, actually, but the wheelbase hung over.
Penalty = 50 Euro for that leg of the flight alone. More than that flight cost! Someone in the customs line gave me a helpful tip: checking the bag online saves a little money. Thus, I bought airport wi-fi service (5 Euro) and paid “just” 31.25 Euro to check it for the second leg. The upside is that now I have wi-fi to commune with you!
Better luck to me next time! And luck I may need….
I just realized that although I brought my Irish Residency permit and passport, I didn’t carry my work permit with me (it’s a full sized page and I don’t normally carry it). I sure hope I can get back into Ireland without it! I’d better go ask the Irish Fulbright Office for advice….
Ireland by Chance 