"Why Do You Like Dublin?" (In No Particular Order)

People ask me all the time: "Do you even like Dublin?" It's always difficult for me to answer. I'm either in the throes of depression or complaining about something (my program, lack of housing/jobs, whatever). Most times, after a considerable period of silence, I stammer: "Well, it's beautiful." No one (myself included) sounds convinced. The truth is, however, despite the hardships I've faced since arriving, there are a ton of things I like Dublin. In fact, I love Dublin. 

 🚘 🚙 ⛽🚦 LICENSE PLATES!🚦 ⛽ 🚙 🚘

License plates in [the Republic of] Ireland are formatted in a really curious way. First of all, the license plate on a car will never change. This is because plates are associated with the car itself, not the owner. License plates remain with the car for the duration of its life, both on and off the road. License plates also have fun "coding." Take these examples:

YY (OR YYY) - CC - SSSSSS

00-D-8976
19-TN-040

99-RN-5962

131-W-908

The first two digits  = the year the car was manufactured. 

• 00 = 2000
• 19 = 2019
• 99 = 1999
• 131 = 2013 (*split into two times of issue; this registration indicates the car was registered during the first half of the year) 

The letter[s] comprising the second part of the plate = the county in which the car is registered. (Note this is county, not province.  When I first discovered the meaning (or coding, as I like to think of it) of license plates here, I vowed to learn all the county codes so I could really feel like a local. I don't know why, but it brings me great joy. I play the game every time I see a car, and it's great fun. Kind of like "I Spy," but with license plates. Some are easier to guess than others, and the Irish name is written above them (so if you don't know Gaelic, you're out of luck). 

• D = Dublin (Baile Átha Cliath)
• TN = ...a difficult one. Larger counties are often divided by north/south. In this case, we are looking at Tipperary North. (Tiobraid Árann Thuaidh)
• RN = Roscommon (Ros Comáin) 
• W = Waterford. Another tough one. There are several counties that begin with "W." Waterford. Wexford. Major counties/cities, like Galway or Limerick, tend to get one letter. Furthermore, you can deduce W is wexford by its translation (Port Láirge) ...large port? 

🐷 O'BRIENS' HAM & CHEESE TOASTIES! 🐷

No tomato, no red onion. Brown bread. Served with crisps on the side (almost always cheese and onion, a flavour unique to Ireland, it seems...and very different from sour cream and onion). 

🌊 🚃 COASTLINE VIEWS FROM TRAINS 🚃 🌊

Regardless of your destination, you're bound to see an arresting coastline. 

🐦 SEAGULLS 🐦 

Their existence, and their incessant squawking. They also remind me I'm surrounded by the sea on all sides. 

 🕑 IRISH TIME 🕑

This one I can only really tell by example. Last weekend I traveled to Co. Mayo with a friend. We agreed to meet at 9AM in the breakfast room of our hotel. I was there at 8:45. I saw her as I finished up my breakfast around 10AM.

"I thought we agreed on 9?"

"Yes, we did." She proceeded to go for some eggs.

⛈ ☔  RAIN ⛈ ☔

I love it. It rains almost daily, never for longer than an hour at a time. I enjoy darting in and out of shops along O'Connell street to avoid getting wet; I love weaving my way through entrances and exits, getting farther and farther as I go. 

🎥🎨🎭📚🎃  FESTIVAL VOLUNTEERING 🎥🎨🎭📚🎃

There's a great sense of community in Dublin. To combat depression and fill up some free time, I volunteer for festivals and events constantly. After a chance encounter with the Volunteers Coordinator of the Dublin Fringe Festival, I was suddenly "in" on the scene. The same individual coordinates most of the major festivals in Dublin, and because this city is so damn small, you'll easily find that the more you volunteer, the more you encounter the same faces. I've been exposed to so much of a Dublin-specific culture (well, Dublin has so many niche cultures) as a result of volunteering. I've been inside the church where Bram Stoker got married. I wore face paint and hula hooped with kids in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral. I've met theatre artists and filmmakers; I've carried home more free books than I could fit in my room. I've really honed my application and interview skills, too. Here are all of the festivals I've worked in a mere six months:

• The Dublin Fringe Festival
• Dublin Bram Stoker Festival
• The Dublin Book Festival
• The Virgin Media International Film Festival (Dublin)

🥇🥈🥉  HONORABLE MENTION[S] 🥇🥈🥉

• FATHER TEDTechnically a British comedy series, Father Ted is one of those amazing shows only possible in the 90s. It's about three Irish priests living off the coast of rural Ireland and all the crazy shenanigans they get themselves into. Read more about Father Ted, starring the late Dermot Morgan, online here. Fun fact: show co-creator creator Graham Linehan would go on to conceive and write the much-successful (but short-lived) IT CROWD series...another favorite of mine.

• FROST ON THE GRASS IN THE COUNTRYSIDE, SPECIFICALLY IN THE EARLY HOURS OF THE MORNING (NAMELY, AT MY FRIEND PHOEBE'S HOUSE) 
• CHOPPEDI love their Dubliner Caesar salad. I add avocado, tomato, peppers, olives

• BROWN BREADReal, proper brown bread.
• THE ABUNDANCE OF PUBLIC PARKS
• GARY P., UNINEST EMPLOYEE
  Gary is like a father to me, and it's been that way ever since I moved into my residence hall. He's one of the most special people I've ever met. Sometimes, when I'm feeling especially low, I think to myself: "Well, if I hadn't come to Ireland, I wouldn't have met Gary."
• GOING BACK TO NEW YORK
  Living 3,000 miles away from the city I grew up in makes returning to it that much sweeter. New York City is part of me, and so are all of the people and experiences in it.