So I went to our weekly class party last night at a girl's apartment off-campus. It was about a 30min walk away from campus - and another 15 mins to my place on the other side of campus. So 3 of us walked together. We all sat around talking and listening to music and discussing movies (mostly them being shocked at my limited viewing!) and realizing how dumb we all are when it comes to vocabulary for the GRE (graduate record exam... I have to take it to see if I get into a PhD program in the States... not holding my breath!) -- I have GRE vocabulary flashcards that Inow carry with me everywhere - and that provided a decent amount of entertainment. We're all nerds, what can I say? :)
Anyway! We didn't leave there until 4ish in the morning. 3 of us left again, but not the same 3. One girl ended up staying the night and we traded for another girl who lived about as far away from both places as possible! Jonathan & I walked Joan back to her place before heading to our respective apartments.
So on the way to Joan's place, we took a short-cut through a cemetery. I loved it! Not for its creepy factor, either. It was this tiny Jewish cemetery - possibly the only Jewish cemetery in the city? - with about 10 graves. We knew that one of the graves held a lady we have been learning about in our "reconstructions of the past" course, so we looked around, but couldn't find her. She must be one of the several "unknowns." In the late 1930's, Ireland was asked by thousands of Jews to host them as refugees from Nazi territory, but Ireland refused most of them. I believe this lady was one of the ones who came in illegally - was helped by a stranger. Only a couple hundred were actually allowed in. There's a huge research project going on right now here about German immigration to Ireland in the early 20th century... I am actually quite fascinated.
So it was really neat to find the place where this lady was buried. To have something tangible to connect to the stories I hear. Kind of strange that this was at 4:30am, but I guess I will take what I can get!
We also decided that we are having a class holiday party after our final exam & we're inviting the profs ("lecturers" here). And we are planning a class trip to continental Europe next term - Ryan air to Brussels, I believe. Should be fun! And we're throwing about the idea of class reunions around the world -- assuming we don't want to kill one another by the end of the year - lol!
I think that's all.
Love you guys ~
Oh, I just noticed that I can comment - Here we go - What wss the lady's name? - also I didn't see Ky's email - Also, have you found any info on the island of "Great Britain" or in the university's library to help with ancestry, etc.? I will copy this to your email!
ReplyDeleteLove,
Aunt Vicki
PS - Tell Eleanor "hey" - I think of "Eleanor Rigsby" by the Beatles!
yay! glad you commented, Vick :) the lady's name is unknown -- only I didn't remember that until after I posted the blog. She's a real person that Frank McCourt wrote about in one of his stories. People know she existed, but no one knows anything about her... Ky didn't write me an email 1st - my blog post was a copy of what I wrote to her because I didn't want to retype everything again on here that I had just told Ky... and we pretty much just don't talk about Great Britain here in Eire. It's still a sore subject!
ReplyDeleteI miss you Steph! I hope things are great in Ireland.
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