Dublin & a Lazy Weekend

Hello! So, this weekend (as in Thursday and Friday) we went to Dublin for a school trip. We left at 7am, which was LOVELY. Guhhh... Then we had a nice 4 hour bus ride. Tim Jones, the dean of BCA, came along as our chaperon and had a lot planned for our time there. We went to so many different museums and galleries...my word. I think the first place we went was the Modern Art Museum. It was in an old building that, apparently, used to be a hospital. I just don't get a lot of modern art. Some of it-ok, fine-but a lot of it just leaves me stumped and sort of annoyed, really. But, I won't get into that whole one-sided debate on my blog! However, there was a cool photography exhibit there that was photos from NY. I know, I'm such an American, but leave me alone, there was some really great work in that exhibit! I think it was all black and white photography and I love the contrasts. :) We also went to a museum with a Francis Bacon exhibit, and I didn't actually go the exhibit of his paintings...you see, a few of us were starving to death and they didn't really give us time in our schedule, soooo we looked around for a while and saw some of the museum and Francis Bacon's crazy studio and then we went to eat. There were a couple quotes, by Francis Bacon, that I really liked:

"I think artists stay much closer to their childhood than other people. They
remain far more constant to those early sensations. Other people change
completely, but artists tend to stay the way they have been from the very
beginning."

"For some reason the moment I saw this place [referring to his studio that I saw]
I knew that I could work here. I am very influenced by places-by the atmosphere
of a room..."

I know that I am very affected by my visual environment. So, I decorated my studio immediately! I might try and do a project that involves covering an entire wall with objects and colors, etc. that express who I am/what I love/ kind of the essence of me. I think it could be a cool self portrait project for me to attempt. Anyways, I also met a leprechaun! I got a picture with him (had to pay him a euro though). Kinji is such an adorable and sweet man. He is the professor that came along with the MCAD students. On Thursday night, he wanted to find an Asian restaurant, so Max, Brian, Alex, Nick, Suzanne, and I went with him to a place called Wagamama. It was really good! We all ate with our chopsticks. :) I actually did alright with them, too! Kinji was so kind to buy us a couple appetizers and then he also bought us a couple desserts, including ginger something cheesecake and some type of spiced chocolate cake. nick told us a story at dinner about how he once had a pet cockroach, named Ralph...I think that was his name. It was so ridiculous, he said it was a gift for him while he was heartbroken from an ended relationship and then another girl came to love Ralph through loving Nick, according to his story=so sweet. lol Ohhh the conversations that we have here! Sooooo, we had dinner there and then we headed back to the hostel, called Barnacles, and I ended up just hanging out in the room and reading a bit until a few girls(Jenny, Allison, Kelly, and Maggie) came and we all just talked, which was nice. Eventually, Allison, Kelly, and Maggie left, so Jenny and I got ready for bed and then ended up talking for an hour or so before finally going to sleep, I love getting to know new people, it makes me happy inside. :) We went to some more museums and such the next day, which included a historical museum where they had bodies that had been discovered in a bog so the skin had turned to leather! It was insane how well preserved some of them were. The hands on one were so crazy, it looked like a sculpture of some type of weird clothing item, since it was leather. You could even see the facial hair on some of them still and they were SO old! Then, Suzanne, John, Janine, and I went to meet the Arcadia people. We had to fill out and turn in our course selection forms. They (Grainne and Hayden) took us out for a really nice lunch. We also got tea and dessert (I got amazing chocolate orange cheesecake!) Then, we parted ways (after spending most of the afternoon with them! They are such delightful people) and Suzanne and Janine and I wandered into a cheap fun jewelry shop and bought necklaces, then went to Dunnes, where we bought some clothes. I got a fun black shirt with a pretty beaded neckline and a turquoise t-shirt. We then headed back to the hostel to get out bags and take off for home! Brittany and Brian stayed the whole weekend in Dublin, so our house was a bit quieter this weekend with less family members. On Saturday, Suzanne and I walked to the school and sketched and hung out with Marcus, it was nice. The walks there and back were great for conversation. I love Suzanne.:) Last night, we watched the movie Snatch and spent time together watching a ridiculous lottery game show beforehand on our one tv channel. Today, I went to church at the Catholic church right behind our house! It was cute and Katie also went. We talked to the priest afterwards and he is ridiculous! He just has a strange sense of humor and Katie and I were laughing hysterically a good majority of the time almost for no reason. I kind of lazied around the house after that, made lunch, and then watched the movie "A Walk in the Clouds" with Michelle. It was a delightfully cheesy movie, starring Keanu Reeves=enough said. My favorite line of his was "When I was boy, every night, I used to climb up to roof of the orphanage and wish on every star I could see." CLASSIC! Gotta love Keanu lol. Theeeeeen, Brittany and Brian got home and most of us watched Zoolander :) Such a silly movie. Then, we laid on the wood floor in the family room, wrapped up in our comforters and just acted liek slugs for a while and I ended up giving Suzanne a backrub as she read for Photography and now, here I am, blogging for you! Then end!