Day 12- June 22nd

June 22nd - Driving Back to Dublin

    Our time in Ireland had been fun, but alas, it was time to drive back to Dublin in preparation for leaving the country tomorrow. Just thinking about how we would probably never see the beauty of Ireland in our own eyes again made us all sad. We finished packing up all of our stuff, and got in the car, ready for our drive back to Dublin. Leah lost the rock-paper-scissors tournament that we used to decide, so she would be the one driving the rented car all the way to Dublin.

    The first few minutes of the car ride were silent. No one talked and it was a little awkward. Hanna finally broke the silence by asking us if we wanted to play Go Fish with the mini cards that she had packed in her bag. We ended up many different card games for about 30 minutes, until we started getting bored and stopped. Everyone was silent for another few minutes until Hannah decided to educate us even more on the history of Ireland. Reading from a web page she had open on her phone, she talked about how Ireland was first settled by humans, which was much later than other European countries, which happened around 10000 years ago. The Celts were the first to come to Ireland, and they influenced Ireland in many ways. One of the ways they influenced Ireland was through myths, and most of the myths in modern-day Ireland originally came from them. She also talked about how agriculture brought the arrival of the stone age.

The Celts

    Emily, reading from a webpage about slightly more modern Irish history, started to talk about the Irish potato famine and how it deeply affected Irish society. The famine started in around 1845 due to a disease that called late blight. This disease destroyed leafs and roots of the potato plant, meaning the Irish were unable to eat the potatoes, which were their main source of food at the time. The farmers, without the potato, struggled to provide for themselves and provide for markets. Because the English government did little to help them in their time of need, the Irish began to grow angry with them. This led many Irishmen to believe that the only people who could help them were themselves. The Irish population was decimated, dropping by 25%. One million people died in the famine, while another million emigrated elsewhere, mainly to the United States. Those who moved to England ended up being underpaid and treated badly. Joseph then reminded us of statues that we had seen in Dublin, which were many wraith-like people walking. He said that he vaguely recalled a sign saying that it was a memorial for those who were affected by the famine. For some odd reason, all of our talk about potatoes made us hungry for french fries, but we decided to wait until we got to Dublin to satiate our hunger for potatoey goodness.

The Famine Memorial Statues in Dublin

    When we arrived in Dublin, we went to a local McDonalds for lunch. The menu was mostly similar to what you’d find in a US McDonalds, except there were more healthier items available. After lunch, we just went to our hotel room, and relaxed. It was a bit nice to just lie down in our rooms with nothing to do. The hotel had free Wi-Fi, so most of us just went on the Internet. Hannah, however, had brought a physical book, so she read that instead.

Our hotel room

    When it was time for dinner, we just ordered a pizza from room service. Tired from a whole week of activities, we went to bed early so we would be ready for the long flights home.