The Plan Is to Meet Gerard Butler

Today in Irish history we tackled the Great Famine, and had a debate on whether it was passive genocide or misguided policy. On one hand, I'm definitely inclined to say "passive genocide." That's what a lot of the historical events leading up to the tragedy point to, and that's what my gut reaction says. While she led the debate as neutrally as possible, there was one point where my history lecturer slipped in to her more personal side as opposed to that of historian. Someone made a remark supporting the idea that it was passive genocide. Her eyes sparked and she pounded her fist down on to the table, emphatically shouting "Yes, exactly!"

On the other hand, I'm curious as to what a British historian might say in response. Genocide is a very heavily weighted word. I feel acutely aware that we're being taught from a distinctly Irish perspective in our classes, despite the lecturers' best attempts to give each side a fair presentation. Still, she's Irish and openly loves her country with great passion, so there's really no way for her to avoid teaching from an Irish perspective.

The whole lecture was absolutely heartbreaking, even when put in to simple, cold hard facts. The memory of suffering during the Famine and its implications, even in modern Ireland, play a huge role in Irish culture. I'm glad I'm studying it more in depth. I think understanding what it means to be Irish or even to live in Ireland would be incomplete without a broader sense of the tragedy and why it still retains such power in the collective memory of the Irish people. I'm really interested in visiting some of the famine memorials. I hadn't really thought about doing so before I came here. There's a really haunting one in Dublin I have yet to see, and apparently one in Boston near Downtown Crossing.

To shift to a much more lighthearted note, I am very excited for our trip to Glendalough tomorrow. It's right near the spot in Wicklow where P.S. I Love You was filmed. So the plan is for all of us to meet our soul mates tomorrow. Specifically Gerard Butler (not that he's actually expected to be there, but one can hope). Any other Scots will do I suppose. If there's any truth to the movie, the way to attract a Scot posing as an Irishman is to look lost and to dress in bright colors. All joking aside, Glendalough is supposed to be an amazing old monastery. More on that later. Then five of us will be heading to Galway for the weekend! Our history teacher gave us an entire list of cool places to check out there, and her number because she might be in the area for the weekend and would show us around.

So for now I'm watching P.S. I Love You with a few other people in the apartment and eating junk food. Oh, and they have the same chocolate hippos we ate in Italy! I'll bring some back for you Brooke. Apparently Kinder, the German chocolate parent company, supplies most of Europe with these delectable hippos. These ones are in chocolate biscuit form :) Biscuits are second best to potatoes as far as Irish food products are concerned.