Reflections back

I just wanted to take some time to reflect on the entire trip, especially the very end of the trip, as I was the last remaining Battenite in Ireland, and the only to truly experience St. Patrick's Day in Dublin.

Ireland is a beautiful, historic, intriguing place. Despite a proliferation of less than fantastic weather, the vistas of the island were some of the most fantastic views I have ever seen. It truly is an Emerald Isle, and the pictures I took cannot do justice to the real thing.

Ireland's history was one of the most important factors drawing me to the Ireland trip. Its conflicted history with England, and the very recent issues of independence, civil war, and domestic terrorism provide a vast canvas of socio-political information to digest. The locations, exhibits, and people provide information that no school lesson ever could.

On St. Patrick's Day: It is a tourist holiday. I would estimate that 1/4-1/3 of the population on St. Patrick's weekend in Dublin is not Irish. In my hostel, there were Spaniards, Germans, Russians, Italians, and a huge variety of other nationalities. This, coupled with the variety of folk I saw while walking around the city, really emphasized the fluidity of borders in the European Union. Even though Ireland is an island, the ease with which Europeans can take a weekend trip there is astounding to me.
The Parade was a lot of fun, although definitely an interesting collection of marching bands, floats, and characters. From the Purdue band to a DJing monkey, the variety of images and colors was intriguing, to say the least.

 

Finally, the return flight: I had a very interesting conversation with my rowmates, who were staffers for Fianna Fail, an opposition party in Ireland, founded by Eamonn de Valera. One of them was even from Inch Island! We had a very frank policy discussion on Irish party politics, Atlantic relations, and even the role of government in society (hint: we disagreed on a few things). But all in all, it reminded me of the importance of including a variety of viewpoints in policy discussion, and the wondrous nature of learning from someone else's experiences.

All in all, a great trip, and in the midst of APP work, I find myself more and more wishing I could go back!