Dublin in a Flash

For those of you who don't know, I sang in a vocal jazz group in graduate school. It was a fantastic experience! Not only were they a group of fabulous people but talented performers as well. This summer we sang at the International Society of Music Educators Conference in Beijing, China. What an amazing time! We had such an overwhelming positive response from our audience. It was so much fun to introduce them to a new genre of music, not to mention climbing the Great Wall and eating amazing food. We were also invited to perform in Ireland and did so last week. Because of my job, I unfortunately could not be with the group the entire week, but I did get to perform on the weekend.

Lake Effect in China - August 2010

As I mentioned in my last post, I had to work the full workday on Friday so I didn't arrive in Dublin until 10pm that night. Because of some miscommunication issues, I was stranded at the airport for about a good hour and a half. I ended up paying a few euro to get on the computer to see if I could get in contact with someone. Thank God for Facebook! Eric, a fellow performer, was on fb and gave me the address of his whereabouts. I took a taxi and was able to meet up with a few people that night.

The next morning, two of the guys (Eric and Kevin) took me into Dublin and showed me around. What a cool place. It was the "homiest" big city I've ever seen! We walked around Trinity College and then along Grafton Street. This street is completely lined with people performing in effort to make a few bucks (or euros). Our group had actually performed a few days before for less than an hour and made like eighty euros!

Grafton Street

Then we walked to a beautiful park. All I can say is the fall season really likes Dublin. It was beautiful. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the park:

After a little bit, we walked back to the train and went to Malahide, where our 2pm rehearsal would be taking place. Immediately when I walked in the hall, I was surrounded by my best friends. It was so good to see them. I have missed them so much. We rehearsed and then split up for lunch. Jenna, who was my next door neighbor/coworker for two years, and I went to a little cafe and caught up over great food and americanos... our favorite! It felt so good to do something "normal."

The concert, which was a benefit for cancer research, was well received. Afterward we were all invited to attend a party. This party was full of good food, a dance room, open bar, and lots of fun people! All in all it was one of the best nights I've had in a long time. That night alone was worth the cost of the plane ticket!

About two hours or so after we got back to our host's house, we had to leave to catch our flights. The trip was a complete whirlwind and wasn't long enough, but it felt so good to see my friends (and not worry about conjugating verbs for 24 hrs)!