Dublin Day 3

Today is the first official day in class (after tours, bank holidays, and orientations). It might take us all a few days to get used to the marathon class sessions. The Irish memoir class begins at 9:00, and the Political Theory class at 11:30. Our goal is to be out exploring the city by 2:00 each day.

Happy students ready to start class.

The first day of Political Theory contains lectures on sovereignty, the state, and democracy. I knew studying in Ireland was going to be helpful for understanding these concepts, but I did not realize just how great it would be to have the complexity of Irish history and politics as a backdrop for our discussions. Our tours and meal conversations with the students are already serving as excellent reference points for my course content. Without going into too much detail (you probably would not continue reading if this turned into a political theory blog), the notions of sovereignty and citizenship operate differently here than we typically consider in the United States. In fact, there are many parallels between the Irish colonial experience and the experience of other indigenous people throughout the world (including the U.S.).

After my class is over we all take a course on Irish language. It is a fascinating, ancient language that does not resemble any other language that we in the class know. The instructor took just the right approach, pushing us to understand and speak the basics in just 90 minutes. (I was terrible at it, and asked unhelpful questions like "why are there so many silent letters?".) 

We were shown this video in class, and it captures the spirit of many of our conversations. 

The first name discussed in it is my Irish name: "Tadgh"

After the Irish language class the students went out on their own, and we had an important appointment at the Teeling Distillery. Dublin was once the worldwide hub for whiskey, producing 60% of the world's supply. All of the distilleries were closed by the early part of the 20th century but are now experiencing a renaissance. One of the nicer examples of this is the Teeling Distillery, opened by a family that had been distilling in Ireland for two centuries.

Attempted selfie #1 in front of distillery.

 Attempted selfie #2.

We signed up for the "Master class" tour, which included a tour by the head distiller himself, and a private tasting of their limited release 15 year old whiskey series. The distiller was from Oregon, and it was a little strange to hear an Irish whiskey tour given with an American accent. The experience was excellent, with the tour and tasting lasting nearly three hours. This is the first of many distillery and brewery tours we have planned for the next several days.

 We were forced to wait at the bar before the tour started.

 We were forced to order and enjoy these stellar cocktails before the tour started.

The tour finally started.

The distilling room was warm and smelled like peat-roasted malt. I asked the distiller giving the tour if they made a perfume I could buy in that scent. He said no and didn't think I was kidding.

Where whiskey is born.

Where whiskey becomes a grown-up.

Our tasting of 15 year old whiskeys included these 5 aged in different casks and a chip we could exchange for another cocktail at the end. We might go back.