Alive, alive oh...

(This title is supposed to be a reference to the famous Irish song 'Molly Malone', I'm sure you guessed)

Anyway. The point of having an Irish title for this entry is of course, that we got the chance to meet and interview Lisa Joyce tonight, who told us more about her homeland: the Republic of Ireland. We had a nice little quiz at first, which was a little difficult, but taught us quite a lot, and then we were able to ask her questions about the country. I found it really interesting, to hear things from someone who actually knows the country from the inside.

Of course, we asked questions about what we hear about, here in "continental" Europe, so we talked about alcohol, and the Celtic Tiger, which appears not to be quite as fantastic as it looks from the outside, and seems to have eaten up the "old Ireland"... (What a fantastic play on word, don't you think reader? The Celtic Tiger has eaten up Ireland... Ha ha ha... Get it? Why don't you laugh, then?)

She told us about economy, about everyday life, and about the most important traits of the Irish people in general, in a nutshell, about what it means to be Irish today. And she also gave us titles of books and movies that we can read to get to know the country better, which is great.

I have been to Dublin too, I stayed there during the first semester of 2007, and it is a great place. Irish people are so cheerful and welcoming, it's very easy to get them to talk to you. The country is very beautiful of course, except that it's raining all the time, and also extremely windy, which is even more bothering. But it's most amazing what the sun does to the landscapes there, really, as soon as it shines, you feel like you just landed in fairyland, everything is so bright and green and healthy. But I must say it does not shine very often, and that might get a little depressing.

Besides, I love the Irish accent. Not quite as much as the Scottish accent, but still, I like it. It sounds very good, and I wish I could have picked it up while I was in Dublin! It's sometimes a little difficult to understand, but it's part of the charm! (As it is, I have more chances to have picked up a Polono-pakistani accent... Now that would be unusual...)

So my advice to you, readers, would be to take advantage of the incredible fares of RyanAir, and check it out for yourselves!! Go drink a Guinness in Temple Bar!! Go have the most expensive Capuccino of your career at the Clarence Hotel Bar! Breathe in the nice sea air, and walk on Oscar Wilde's footsteps... Well don't, actually, it could be dangerous, and you might end up in prison...

Anyway, it was really nice to hear more about Ireland, and to learn brand new words such as "begrudgery"... Hope I won't have to use this one too often...

PS: I now will sing Molly Malone for the next fortnight or so, I hope I managed to plague some of you dear readers. Please, don't begrudge me... ^_^