Looking at Artifacts

Okay so I know that I posted a lot today, but I wanted to post one more quick thing about today.

Early Start Archaeology Looking at Artifacts

In class we got to look at artifacts, some as old as the Mesolithic (8,000-4,000 BCE) and the most recent ones were from the Bronze Age (2,000-600 BCE).  The items contained a lot of axe heads, but also spear heads and arrowheads.

Mostly Bronze Age Artifacts I Believe

Me Holding a Bronze Age Spear Head

Whenever I'm in museums I always want to touch the artifacts so it was pretty cool that today we all could.

West Cork Field Trip: Drombeg

Last post of the field trip, I swear!  Sorry, it was a really long and amazing day!

Stone Circle

Remains of a House

Our final stop was Drombeg.  It has a stone circle, the remains of a fulachta fiadh, and the remains of a house.  The stone circle was likely used for ritual practices and there are two stones that are believed to represent the male and female forms.

Our Professor Talking to us about Drombeg

However, our professor says that this might just be dirty minded archaeologists.  Who knows though?  There is a definite entrance to the stone circle and there is a certain alignment with the stones and solar cycles.  Later, it is believed that it was actually used as a place to hold mass.

Various Offerings Left by Visitors

In the center there was an axial stone where different people left different offerings.  Pretty much whatever they had in their pockets.  Since I had not change nor any trinkets to leave, I left my hair tie there.  Our professor said that under the stone, there were the remains of a man who was possibly sacrificed, but we'll never know for certain.

Remains of the Fulacht Fiadh

The fulacht fiadh was used to cook meat.  There was a well to get water.  The water would be placed in the trough.  Stones would be heated in the hearths and then placed in the water to boil it.  After the water was boiling, meat would be cooked in it.  This process has been recreated, and it has been proven to be quite effective.

Me at Drombeg

Drombeg is a Bronze Age Site and even though I like old history, I have never before liked prehistory so much.  I actually felt oddly connected to Drombeg and took care to touch each of the 17 stones in the stone circle.  I can't explain the connection, but it did make me think of the song 'Swimming to the Other Side':

We are living 'neath the great Big Dipper
We are washed by the very same rain
We are swimming in the stream together
Some in power and some in pain
We can worship this ground we walk on
Cherishing the beings that we live beside
Loving spirits will live forever
We're all swimming to the other side

West Cork Field Trip: Coppinger's Court

Our Puppy Tour Guides

We had to park a bit away from our third site, Coppinger's Court, as the bus could only go so far into the valley it was in.  On our short walk, we met four dogs who began to follow us and then it seemed that they thought they were leading us.  I think the funniest thing was when the dogs chased away cows when the cows could really have just squashed these little dogs.  Poor cows...

Inside of Coppinger's Court

Me Inside Coppinger's Court

All the same though, it was probably better for the cows to be far away because Coppinger's Court is beyond repair and will one day fall apart.  This is why our professor only let us into it for a brief time as even though cows are sometimes left there.  Although, as our professor said, you can risk a cow, but not an undergrad.

Coppinger's Court

Information about Coppinger's Court:
A four-story semi-fortified house built in c. 1616 by Sir Walter Coppinger.  The house consists of a central block flanked by two towers on the east side and one in the center to the west.  There are some mullioned windows surviving on the top floor on the west side.  Other features include the well-preserved chimneys and remains of the bawn wall.

Our professor told us that Walter Coppinger actually got the land by betraying people to the British (not 100% sure on this, but he did betray people and got land for it).  We were also told that there was a push to save the building and turn it into a hotel in the 70s, but the project fell through and now the building is beyond repair.

West Cork Field Trip: Clonakilty and Portal Tomb

After Ballinacarriga, we were all pretty hungry so our next stop was Clonakilty for lunch at De Barra.  De Barra is apparently well known for having awesome live music (apparently the bassist from the Jimi Hendrix experience retired to Clonakilty).  The food was quite tasty, but it was clearly very confusing to get us all our food.

Outside of De Barra

Only some of the Masks etc.

De Barra was decorated in really fun ways, including a ton of masks, photos, old ads, and old signs.

Clonakilty

We didn't get much of a chance to explore, but it was a beautiful place.

Portal Tomb

After we were full of tasty sandwiches and soup, we headed back out.  On our way to our next site, we passed a portal tomb.  We couldn't go and see it because the owner of the land won't let anyone near it to see it or excavate it...but my camera has an awesome zoom!

West Cork Field Trip: Ballinacarriga Tower House

The next stop on our trip was Ballinacarriga Tower House.  We were all excited, I think at least, that the castle-type building we had seen from the road proved to be our next stop.  This is probably the place where I took the most photos (over 60).

Ballinacarriga Tower House

They aren't quite sure when this was built, but there were some inserted windows that were inserted in 1585.  There were several defensive features of the tower house that would later become obsolete.  The tower house builders were not very concerned with aesthetics, mostly with defense.  Ballinacarriga was even built on a giant rock so that it could have a great view of the surrounding area so they could see if anyone was going to invade.  They also had two strategic places from which to drop things on people.

The Sheela-na-gig

There is also a Sheela-na-gig which is a female exhibitionist figure.  It is likely a pre-Christian symbol thought to ward off evil spirits.  However, there are some theories that it is actually meant to keep men faithful.  Although, women did apparently get into this position to get rid of invaders (it's not quite known how effective this was).

The Inside of Ballinacarriga

Instruments of the Passion at the Inner Chapel

The top floor was turned into a chapel after the reformation so the family could remain Catholic.  We got to see the inside and the top floor as our professor (for some awesome reason) has a skeleton key to all national monuments in Ireland.  Even though the climb to the top was a bit scary, the view was well worth it.

Me at the Top of Ballinacarriga

West Cork Field Trip: Garranes Ringfort

So since we visited four sites yesterday and had lunch in Clonakilty, I'm actually going to break up what could be an epicly long post into five short posts.

Relatively promptly at 9:30am (we tried to wait for one person, but he appears to be sleeping through class) from Gaol Cross.  After ordering our meal for the day as well as the meals for our overnight trips, we all eagerly looked out the window for our first site and whatever other ones we could see.

Me in the Ringfort

Our first site was Garranges Ringfort.  Ringforts are one of the most common archaeological sites throughout Ireland, but some were sadly lost after the superstition that they were a magical place subsided.  Now, however, there are stricter laws to protect them.

Here is the information in my awesome syllabus about it:
A large tri-vallate ringfort excavated in 1930s and again in 1991-93.  Garranes may well be the royal seat of the Eoganacht Raithleann, referred to as Rath Raithleann in the early sources.  The excavations in the 1930s produced evidence of intensive metal- and glass-working and uncovered the remains of an elaborate system of gates.  Imported pottery (from the Mediterranean and Gaul) dating from the 5th and 7th centuries AD was found.

Me in the Trench

A View from the Trench

After our professor explained that we were in a ringfort and not in a random circular field, we explored the site for a bit and it was beautiful.  A lot of us went down into the trench that would have surrounded the fort. By the way, it might seem like I'm posting a lot of photos, but I'm trying to be super restrained as I took about 192...

Quick Hi

Hello!  So today was a long day of awesome field trips to four sites, but because it was such a long day this post will be very short and I'll post more about the field trip tomorrow.

After the field trip it was another quiet night in, which is good because I took about 200 photos that I needed to sort through.  Tomorrow is just another day of class, but my roommates and I might actually go out for dinner tomorrow (gasp), and this weekend we plan to go to Blarney and maybe some other places.

I promise I'll post some of my photos tomorrow and tell more about my awesome day!

Wife in Labor?

Despite my title, today was a pretty uneventful day, which, actually, was kinda nice.

Newgrange and, as you can see, I did not take this photo

Class was fascinating, we talked about Megalithic tombs, particularly Newgrange, Knowth, and Dowth.  Their entrances are linked up with the sun in different ways, which gave me a certain theory about the tombs, particularly who would be buried in them, but it's kinda crazy and has very little support.  Pretty much I think that Newgrange would hold the highest elite as its entrance is lined up with the sun at sunrise of the winter solstice, Knowth would have the next highest as its entrance lines up with the sun at the equinoxes, and that the lowest level (possibly even people considered evil) were in Dowth as its entrance lines up with the sunset of the winter solstice (the beginning of the longest night).  Like I said, kinda crazy.

The title of this blog comes from when our professor's phone rang in class and we all thought that was the call to announce his wife was in labor with their second child.  Alas, it was not, but we all know that that time is coming up soon (this week or next).

Tomorrow is our first field trip so expect a lot of photos tomorrow, but I don't have anything from today as it was just a day to do some practical things (Tesco, wireless set up, and checking out a book from the library) and roommate bonding.

Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral and The Rebel Bookstore

Me at Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral

After a second awesome day of class Kayla, Montana, and I decided to find our way back to Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral.  Luckily, it was pretty easy to get from the Student Centre to Saint Fin Barre's, but we still did use the map to start out with.

At the top of Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral

It is a beautiful cathedral and so incredibly detailed.  I took so many photos that my epic camera battery finally started complaining (as did Kayla's actually), but I couldn't get over how incredible the cathedral was. We didn't actually set foot inside as you have to pay for that privilege, but we'll probably go back.

A Gargoyle

A Gargoyle

Montana and I got a crash course in church architecture from Kayla who just took a course on it recently.  So I learned about the foolish virgins, what gargoyles really are, and exactly what a buttress is.

A Relatively Typical Tombstone

A More Unique Tombstone

I think the most interesting part was seeing who was buried there.  The tombstones that I could make out the best seemed to mostly be of older men buried in the 1800s, but there were also two younger women who were the wives of military men buried there.  The most recent grave appeared to be the 1998 grave of the Bishop of Cork.  All of this made me think that it was quite an honor to be buried there.

After we finished with the cathedral, we still had time to kill before our tour of the library, so we set off to another point on our map: The Rebel Bookstore.  I think we all thought that the name was just a name (as UCC's mascots are The Rebels), but it turned out to be a bookstore with mainly things about revolutionary times.  I even picked up a few copies of Irish Anarchist Review.

Then we had our tour of the library, which was led by a very nice lady, but was a little too long for my taste, but after that it was another nice evening of hanging out with my flatmates.

First Day of Class and Settling In

I probably won't be able to update as much once classes really get underway, but while I can I'll keep updating everyday.

Anyways, today was the first day of class, and even though we took a different route to UCC this morning, we found our way to Civil Engineering Room 110 for our first archaeology class.  There were quite a few people already there, but the class was smaller than we expected.  Our professor was great!  He was very relatable and knowledgeable and he clearly knew what most of our anxieties were for the course.  He went over the assessments, the material, and the field trips.  Now I think I might need to get a good pair of boots though...

Besides assuaging our fears, I think we all got really excited for the course.  The amount of reading that we need to do seems a little unclear, but since our tour of the library is tomorrow I think I might do some reading then.

The Stone Corridor

The UCC Crest

After class, but before our IDs, Kayla and I wandered a little more of the campus and saw the Stone Corridor and the UCC crest.  As the rumor goes, walking across it guarantees and unplanned pregnancy and/or failing.  I wonder why so many schools have this superstition...  But to quote the UCC website about the Stone Corridor, "The cloisters contain a collection of Ogham Stones illustrating an early coded form of the Irish Language.  These are ancient gravestones, each one marking the burial place of a distinguished person of the Celtic tribe, a chieftain or a bard, and a date from the second or third century of the Christian era - the period before Saint Patrick came to Ireland.  Letters represented by grooves and notches record simple genealogical statements of the period 300-600 AD."

My Bed Complete with Photo Decorations

My UCC Beanie and My UCC ID

The rest of the day I spent settling in a bit more.  Yesterday I had put up my photos and decorated my cork board, but for some reason it felt like today I really started to settle in.  Maybe it was the ID and UCC hat that I bought, maybe it was the buying of more substantial groceries at Tesco, or maybe it was hanging out with Kyla, Kayla, and Montana in our common area, watching Avatar: The Last Airbender and eating some ice cream.

Cork Butter Museum

Kayla, Kyla, Me, and Montana at the Cork Butter Museum

Tomorrow classes finally start so Kayla, Kyla, Montana, and I decided to have another full day of adventuring.  We took the 208 bus into the City Centre and then successfully navigated our way to the Cork Butter Museum.  At first I think we went because we were so amused that there was a museum about butter, but it turns out that butter was an incredibly important part of the Irish economy.  The man who worked there was also very nice and took our group photo four times so that we would all have a copy.

The Four Faced Liar

The Butter Museum was very close to the Four Faced Liar, which we saw as we wandered around after our visit to the museum.  We also saw a cathedral and some very adorable streets with very adorable children playing with a soccer ball.

Joan Denise Moriarty Exhibition

The Butter Museum was also right next to this building that used to be a part of the butter market, but is now a small dance theatre.  There was a free exhibit at it with all of these old ballet costumes so we stopped in to take a look and it was beautiful!  I definitely did not know all of the ballets that the outfits were from, but they were amazing.

Mr. Simms Olde Sweet Shoppe

Later we did some more wandering and found our way to Mr. Simms Olde Sweet Shoppe.  The chocolate that Kyla got, and let us have, was delicious, and I quite enjoyed my floppy the dolphin.  I also managed to buy my first souvenirs of the trip there.

After that, we hopped back on the 208 to make one more run to the shopping centre for school supplies and a new hairdryer for Kyla who kinda blew hers up this morning.  Luckily, since I had done a similar thing in my room, I was able to fix the fuse box without calling the warden again.

As for tomorrow, I don't really know what to expect.  I know that we have to get our IDs tomorrow and I know that at some point this week we have our first field trip, but I don't really know how the class will run.  I think we have four hours of class a day and I assume there is a break in there somewhere, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see what lies ahead in Civil Engineering Room 110.

Cancelled Canoe Race

Today a group of us met a peer support leader at the Student Union so that we could go and see a canoe race.  We had kind of decided that this would be our tourist weekend so all four of us had our huge cameras hanging around our necks, but I think a group of seven people with American accents being led around by one person with an Irish accent already marked us as tourists.  Aishling, our peer support leader, led us down a very scenic route cause she knew that we wanted to take photos.

One other person wandering with us turns out to know my friend Hannah at Wellesley and is in my archaeology program.  It's crazy that even here, it is still a small world.

The Park

Anyways, our wandering took us through a beautiful park.  The weirdest things at the park were a kinda sketchy looking building that, during the school year, houses all of the animals for those studying zoology, and the psychology building which was behind a fence, a long winding walkway, and a lot of trees.

The River

Me at the River

As we wound our way to where we thought the canoe race should be we noticed that no one appeared to be lined up to watch.  Finally, we noticed that one of the bridges was blocked and that there was no way that canoe race was going to happen.  Aishling was very apologetic, but offered to take us on a little tour of Cork.

The Creepy Street Performer

She showed us, at the request of Kayla, Fast Al's and the cinema.  On our way there, we saw two street performers.  One of whom was fantastic, but a little scary as he would lunge out at people or poke women with his very creepy cane.  Since we had all wanted to go to the English Market again, we said bye to Aishling and headed to the English Market.  We all either got tarts or gourmet sausages and went outside to eat them together.  My tart was amazing!  It was custard and berries and delicious.

Us and Our Food (Photo by Kayla)

After our snack we went back into the market to check out the food.  Everything was so much cheaper than I had imagined it would be.  For instance there was tupperware for one euro (it was six euros at Tesco) and, probably more impressively, nine kiwis for two euros!  While we were waiting for one person to find olive oil, Kayla and I decided to run to Penney's to get wellies.  Penney's was incredibly crowded but we found wellies, although there weren't that many so we now have matching ones.  Of course, after we bought them, it stopped raining.  Oh well, I'm sure we'll still get plenty of use out of them.

Getting Oriented

Today Kayla, Montana, and I got to find our way to Boole Lecture Halls which was not labeled on the campus map, but luckily our assumption that they would be near the Boole Library proved correct.  Bonus points if you can guess who they were named after without any google searching.

The most interesting part of orientation was, in my opinion, the different Early Start Programme heads talking about the programs.  Besides my own, I think the best one is the Folklore one and the most boring one was the marketing...although, admittedly, this was the last one and it came right before our first break.

The other interesting parts were talking about the clubs and societies (although the student union's kinda, and by kinda I mean really, inappropriate video about sexual health was pretty entertaining).  I definitely want to join the international student group, but I think I'll have to wait until the fair to check out the other groups.  Although I'll definitely walk by the medieval reenactment society's table...

The presentation by the Chaplaincy was interesting too.  They seem to organize a lot of trips for people of all faiths (including those with none) as well as have free tea, coffee, and cakes on certain days.

While all of the presenters seemed very nice, one of them occasionally got really quiet and her nice voice took on a bit of a threatening tone.  Although, apparently, she had due cause as the police and immigration have already made complaints...

Me at the Main Quad

Anyways, the best part of the day was the campus tour.  Our tour guide was named Shane Luck and he was very nice and told us a lot about UCC traditions...including punching spongy trees (although now they're fenced off).

Wandering Cork

Now that I have gotten some more sleep  (13 hours actually, but considering I didn't sleep at all on the plane due to the kids behind me kicking my seat into upright position, that isn't a lot), I'm ready to post more about Cork!

Lead the way!

Today a group of us walked into Cork City Centre to explore and do a little shopping.  While the shopping part did not work out so well for some of us, we did get to see a lot of the city, and the shopping was fixed with a run to Tesco.  It is incredibly beautiful here.  Everything is so green and looking at the patchwork hills is something I think I'll never get tired of seeing.  Even with the grey, cloudy sky Cork appears a cheerful place with a lot of stuff to do.

Me at the Memorial

The river, and yes I took this photo :P

We walked by some beautiful churches and cathedrals and passed what I'm pretty sure is statue to commemorate those who died in Ireland's battle for independence.  I think my favorite thing that we saw though was the river.  Even though we might not have always been taking the most direct route, it was always fun to see everything.

The Courthouse

Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral

The English Market

I also really loved the English Market, the Court House, and Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral but was a bit too tired to appreciate them.  Thus I have started a list of things to see/go back to when I am less jet lagged:
Cork Butter Museum
Court House
Opera House
River
Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral
Saint Fin Barre's Cemetery
The English Market

Hopefully I'll get to see some of these things this weekend as tomorrow is taken up by orientation, but the rest of the weekend is free!

It'll be nice if either of my two new roommates, Kyla (yes we have a Kyla and a Kayla) or Julia, decide to join Kayla, Montana, and me on our adventures, especially as now Montana and I know how to use the 208 bus which takes us into Cork City Centre.  We're all from the US, and while Kayla, Julia, Montana, and I are here for Early Start Programmes, Kyla is here for an internship.

Tonight I'm looking forward to makeshift dinner with Kayla and Montanna that will be made out of the preliminary groceries that we got from Tesco.  I'm thinking cereal and some bread and butter...