The parting glass

Oh, all the money that e'er I had
I spent it in good company
And all the harm that e'er I've done
Alas, it was to none but me
And all I've done for want of wit
To memory now I can't recall
So fill to me the parting glass
Goodnight, and joy be with you all

I knew this was coming the whole semester. I will not be sentimental. I will not be sentimental. I will not be sentimental.

...

(Cue the saxophones.)



Well, in the words of Anne Sexton, "I am almost someone going home."
This will probably be my last post from over here; nobody should be subjected to the thoughts and emotions I'll be going through during the next couple days. I'd like to think that I'm going to handle this gracefully, but I'm going to say right now that I apologize for being mopey and obnoxious when I come home. Because it's going to happen. Bear with me.
I'm also going to fight the temptation (and believe me, it's a strong one) to get overly reflective and emotional here. If you know me at all, you know already what this place and these months have been to me.
So because I'm unwilling and unable to say goodbye in words, I'm going to try to say it in pictures. Dublin, the final photo shoot.
Some old ones from Killiney, Ireland's own Bay of Naples and home of Bono, Enya, and Van Morrison:



Flea market in Dun Laoghaire (pronounced, believe it or not, Dun Leary):

Devitt's from the oustide. God, I will miss that place.

From the Guinness Storehouse, which I finally, finally made it to:





And my two personal favourites (I only have a few more days to do that!)--click on these to read the text:


The Gravity Bar--complementary pint plus panoramic view of Dublin:



Along Dame Street:



Molly Malone (the Tart with the Cart); I pass her all the time but have never stopped to take her picture:

Grafton Street:

Some terrible pictures from the IES farewell dinner (flash? What flash?). My roommates and me:

An extremely blurry shot of me with the lovely Siobhán Ní Chonchúir--student welfare officer and Irish teacher extraordinaire:

And finally, me (strangely grimacing) with the wonderful Ashley Taggart, head of IES Dublin and my Irish film professor (oh, that flash):

And I honestly, honestly can't think of anything more to say. Which is a rare thing for me.
I don't know.
I guess I'll see you all soon.


Agus Baile Átha Cliath, faid saoil chugat. Go raibh maith agat. Is brea liom tú.