The day began with me missing the alarm and us hustling to make it to the orientation. Thankfully everyone runs on Irish time (about 20 minutes late.. seriously) so we were just fine.
My large blue packet gave me some great information, namely, that my internship placement is at Children's Medical and Research Foundation! I have an interview later this week to secure the position, probably tomorrow or Thursday. My commute will be about an hour on bus. Thanks ASU for the month bus pass! I start my position, assuming it's a good fit, on Monday and will work M-F. I'll find more out about my hours and specific job expectations at the interview.
From what I understand from the website, CMRF is a fundraising body for the Crumlin Children's Hospital, the largest of its kind in Europe. I think it's pretty similar to St. Jude in the US. They did an amazing job fitting me with this company, having raised money for St. Jude, working with children for so many years, and doing event planning with Shadow Rock and Tri Delta. I'm told I should dress "sharp," which I'm thrilled with also!
The location of my job is also fabulous! I'll really be in the center of the city, on the South of the Liffey and close to the area of Dublin I already know from last year. Big yay!
We sat through orientation for about three hours, covering all kinds of information, like cell phones (mine comes tomorrow), safety, housing, work place environment and interview tips. I'll be practicing and preparing for a while tomorrow and stalking them all over the internet. I want this internship and I will nail this interview!
(I promise to write more about the cultural differences they told us about and what to watch out for, it was so interesting!)
After that we took a little walking tour around Dublin City University, finding the bus stops, health center, gym, parks and other helpful landmarks. I'm so glad to know where the gym is! I'm ready for a run!
Kayt and I invited some friends we'd met to come with us to the City Center to find the shop to fix Kayt's computer. Caroline, Jessica and Andrea are all from different Universities with different majors and totally different internships, so we had a lot to talk about as we navigated the streets of Dublin. Kayt and I left the others at Trinity College while we went to find the shop. I remembered a lot from last year, like St. George St. and oriented myself well.
The guys in the shop, who were all very helpful, told Kayt the problem was the software in her computer. We decided to buy a router instead of fixing the software though, and I just fixed us up with wireless in our apartment (named after Herta's book, The Land of the Green Plums)! Go us!
We then met up with the girls again and went to the Temple Bar neighborhood on the South of the Liffey. There are lots of steriotypical Irish pubs down there with traditional Irish music and food. We choose one as our minds and feet began to rebel, The Auld Dubliner. I got a yum salad and a glass of Guinness, my first taste of heaven since I've been on the Island. It was so perfect.
We had a very nice and inexpensive dinner, then headed back to Shanowen Square. The buses are pretty confusing and we kept getting on the wrong ones. Finally, at about 9PM, we got back to the apartment complex.
It's almost midnight, though the sun only went down an hour ago, and I'm so exhausted! It was a beautiful sunny day and tomorrow promises to be the same. I'll probably head over to the gym in the AM, my body really wants some yoga and meditation time. Then over to Tesco again, this time for a light bulb, sponge and other odds and ends.
Good night, United States! I don't miss you as much tonight :)
