Free Write - My adventure in Dublin

It was getting late and we had to be at the hotel in less than an hour. We were tourism students moving to Ireland to work for a while as part of a trade mission between Ireland and Newfoundland and Labrador. Of course the hostel we were staying at in Dublin wasn’t nearly as nice as the hotel everyone else was staying at, but we were too excited to care. We were surrounded by a number of dignitaries from Newfoundland and Labrador and going to meet Ireland’s Ambassador to Canada in just a couple of hours. We had to be impressive and represent the province with class.

Being new to Dublin we decided a cab would be necessary to get to the hotel to meet up with the rest of the group. We arrived at the hotel and met up with our teacher and her husband. The Premier of Newfoundland and his constituents were there in the lobby waiting for our bus. It was exciting and awkward but we knew this was an experience of a lifetime.

We decided to wait outside for the bus because of the number of people in the lobby, and the fact that we were completely out of place with all these important people. We took pictures of what we thought were palm trees in Ireland. I think they were fake but interesting enough for a picture at least. When the bus arrived we all piled in and the four of us stuck together. We got a hello from the Premier and then we were on our way. On the way to the Ambassador’s house, the bus driver gave us a mini tour of the city en route to the Ambassador’s house. As we headed through the hills the houses got bigger and I knew we were getting close.

The driver told us of all the famous people who lived in these big houses, but being from Canada meant I didn’t know many of them. We drove up a hill when he pointed out Bono’s house. It was quite impressive. So much so that we didn’t realize that we had arrived at the Ambassador’s house which was right across the street. We hurried off the bus and took some quick pictures of the gate to Bono’s driveway and headed inside. My stomach was getting sick with anxiety but I knew I could handle it. My classmates were also starting to get that nervous feeling and look of fear.

Once the Premier and the rest of the group said their hellos it was our turn. We shook hands, took pictures and it turned out he was a very nice, down to earth man. Of course once the formalities were done with, it was off to the food tables. We were students staying in a hostel so any food was good food to us at this point. We stuck together and the night went along smoothly. We were approached by several people we didn’t know yet I’m sure they were important. We told our story of being tourism students moving to Ireland to work. They were mostly impressed and wished us well.

I had a bad feeling I would do something stupid like trip up in the rug or open the wrong door on my hunt for the washroom. We all felt a little out of place and needed to escape. Then we noticed the back yard which, lucky for us, had a great view of Bono’s house. We then spent a majority of the evening trying to get that great picture to take home to show all our friends. The night ended with a sing-along of “Sunny’s Dream” which was a great experience, not the best sounding group, but a fun way to end an exciting night.

We all loaded back onto the bus and headed down through the hills of Dublin back to the hotel. Everyone was tired after the long trip and long night, but there was still a buzz of excitement in the air from everyone. I knew after that night it was going to be a fun few months that I would never forget. The bus driver dropped off the important people at their fancy hotel. He was nice enough to offer us a ride to our hostel. When we walked into our room that just barely fit three bunk beds, it just didn’t compare to the beautiful house of the Ambassador. I couldn’t sleep thinking of all the things we had done that night and the people we had met. But of all those things that were supposed to be important to my life, the fact that I saw Bono’s house will stick in my mind forever.