#34 Friday, April 25th, 2008: Kilmainham Gaol

Kilmainham Gaol (pronounced like 'kill and maim jail') was established in 1796 shortly before the Act of Union of the United Kingdom was created in purpose to unify Ireland with the U.K.
Kilmainham Gaol is a national landmark because it has captivated history by living through distraught times of the United Irish Rebellion of 1798, the Emmet Rebellion of 1803, the Great Famine of 1845 to 1851, the Young Ireland Rebellion of 1848, the Fenian Rebellion of 1867, the Land War of the 1880s, the Easter Rising of 1916, the War of Independence and the Irish Civil War. [Information provided by tour guide, Ben]
People incarcerated were not discriminated by age or sex. An eight year old boy was imprisoned for eight weeks for stealing turnips from a garden. Another juvenile for stealing a wheel. Children under 14 served up to 12 weeks and anyone older served 'X' amount of weeks/months/years. Petty crimes could become life sentences. Catholics were imprisoned and slaughtered for petitioning for emancipation in the Rebellion of 1798, 1803 and most of the other rebellions. The Irish were further persecuted for wanting independence. Hanged, tar feathered, shot, raped, massacred and burned alive were the Irish folk.
Kilmainham Gaol captured and preserved this anguish, depression and sorrow. Walking through the doors and 123 years of raw emotions come crashing down on you. The tour guide, Ben, showed and revealed the stories of the chapel, old wing, exercise yard, stone breaking yard, east and west wing. The stone breaking yard is where the 14 Eastern Rising leaders were killed military style (lined up and shot). One was shot strapped to a chair because he was already deathly ill. I could talk more about this but frankly I am tired. Enjoy the show.

#33 Thursday, April 24th, 2008: Derek William Drew

Derek William Drew died last Tuesday from cancer that he had been battling for years. Finally, at the age of 60 he passed away in a hospice. Donal being a friend provided consultation till the day before he died. The funeral was on Saturday. Donal and Cheri came back from the funeral and were smiling. Derek did not want his funeral to be as an eternal goodbye but something more continuous in a sense. This "happy" funeral idea is far more appealing then mourners dressed in black weeping. I guess I would personally like a liberal funeral. I don't want people depressed at my funeral. I want them to think about the good memories.
Derek has a surviving wife, Gwyneth. Together they helped a particular orphanage in Romania. To continue the support of this orphanage Derek and Gwyneth decided any money given for the funeral will be given to the orphanage. To help Gwyneth me and Cheri came to her house to clean. Gwyneth's upstairs room was cluttered and in a few days visitors were coming to stay in that room. Me, Cheri and Gwyneth's daughter, armed with cleaning chemicals, tackled the cluttered room like true quarterbacks. I vacuumed the first floor as well. People were constantly coming to visit her. Comforting, cleaning and shopping for this widow. The amount of considerate actions by neighbors, friends and family members was so beautiful.
Gwyneth made us tea with biscuits (cookies)... She also kissed my cheek when I left. Today was really gratifying.
Yesterday I defended America! It was the last day of graduate class and the teacher tried to generalize and say that Americans were bad. Or something like that. I gnashed my terrible teeth with the audacity of a genuine patriot and scathed them by saying "Not all Americans are bad". Haha. Not much of a speech but the effect was that they admitted that I was right AND they looked guilty. They forgot there was an American in the room.

#32 Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008: Royal Ireland Academy

(Nobel Prize in Literature), Garret Donal had requested if I could a meeting on stem cell research at the Royal Ireland Academy and I was allowed. RIA (not to be confused with the IRA) was founded in 1785 to heighten the study in sciences, humanities and social sciences in Ireland. Over the the 223 years it has been a host to many famously acclaimed people. Current and past members include Seamus HeaneyFitzGerald (Taoiseach), Mary McAleese (Current president), Mary Robinson (President before other Mary), Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin (evolution), W. B. (influential Irish poet) and many more. Anyways, what I am trying to say is I felt privileged that they allowed me to come and agreed to give me a tour. The conference had a small selection of people who were scientists, reporters, anti-stem cell research, professors and me. I told one of Donal's acquaintances that I am going to major in Russian Studies and he said that he met with President Vladimir Putin's closest advisers in Moscow. Apparently he was suppose to make a speech but they forgot to inform him. I think talking to this man (who you will see on the video) and the history/architecture of the building was equally as important as the conference. The conference was about the released report by The Irish Council for Bioethics, titled Ethical, Scientific and Legal Issues Concerning Stem Cell Research. The report showed statistics on how much of the general population is supportive of stem cell. Let me just say they are against it. To shield from disapproval the council had to place the word OPINION under the title.
A nice lady showed me and Donal around the reading room and the library. It just happened that the rarest texts from the library were taken from the vault that morning! They were being brought somewhere. I got to see the oldest complete text written in Irish in the entire country of Ireland. Not to mention it was written by Saint Columcille an exile who established 27 Irish monasteries. The book is from the seventh century. The woman put together a folder full of stuff for me and Donal.
CHECK THIS LINK OUT!!! http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0423/6news_av.html?2365876,null,230
When you get there click on Ethics body backs embryos for stem cell research. You will see some familiar faces...

#31 Tuesday, April 21st, 2008: Ethics.

The last nursing ethics class was today. There is much debate on patients autonomy and a nurses duty in different situations. A continuous power struggle where it is hard to draw the lines. When is it OK to override the patients wishes? I believe that a patient has every right to decline medicine or procedures to better their health. If their life is being jeopardized then remedies should be suggested and pushed. To force someone to bend to another persons opinion, however truthful it might be, is unjust. Whatever the legitimacy of the case it is the persons inherent right to decide what is being done/given to their body. It is understandable that the nurse wants the best of health for her patient but their is only so much that he/she can respectably do.
If the patient is incoherent or mentally unstable I would suggest that the doctor, nurse and closest family members should be consulted to come to a conclusion. This way a medical and personal level can mediate together.
All patients should be told of their prognosis. They should not be "protected"from the truth. These sort of judgments could lead to very serious law suits.
Bottom line they have the right to know and the right to decide. Basic rights.
And thank you John for letting me take your class and dropping me off in the city center. Donal was on the radio with 5 others debating pro or against euthanasia.

#30 Monday, April 20th, 2008: Phoenix Park and Dublin Zoo

Dublin Zoo was opened in 1833 after a donation of animals was given from the London Zoo. The zoo is located inside Phoenix Park, reputably the largest enclosed park in Europe. Phoenix Park even has its own area code. But with 1,760 acres who wouldn't need one? Dublin Zoo is famed for numerous reasons, one being that the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer lion came from the zoo.
The weather was sunny so I decided to take the Dublin Bus to the Dublin Zoo. The park was breathtaking. It is a exclusive oasis in a sea of metal. I am planning to visit Phoenix Park again. I knew that the park was NE. Unknown to me was that the park continued across the street. It was fine and dandy to get lost in a beautiful park but Dublin Zoo was going to close in three hours. Thom McCain, ties with Graham School, once warned me that Irish people will give directions without actually know the way. Not out of spite but an attempt to be helpful. I knew this but I decided to ask anyways. I asked a man in a tracksuit (the latest fashion) and he pointed in the opposite direction I was heading. I reach the other side of the park and there was no zoo. Coming back the way I was headed I passed him. He said "Did you find it?". I nodded no. "Yeah, I didn't really know the way..." He admitted.
The Dublin Zoo has 235 species ranging from the Arctic to across the spectrum to the plains of Africa. Since it was a nice day out the rhinos, hippos, gorillas, snow leopard, leopard, leopard tortoise, tigers, wolves, ostriches, giraffes and nearly all 235 species were out.

Been Busy.

To Family and Others,

I have been seriously busy! Just because I don't post a blog everyday does not mean that I am sick or dying...
The Graham School says that I have to turn in all blogs by 12:00 on Sunday. BUT I will try to do them everyday. This week has been abnormally bustling. With good and bad occurrences. Donal's and Cheri's friend passed away from cancer this morning.
R.I.P.

#29 Thursday, April 17th, 2008: REALLY Heavy Topics

Dublin City University
One of Donal's friends, John, was nice enough to let me sit in on his class. Donal is John's boss but it is still nice of him. The presentations titles that the students presented on were The Ethical Issues Surrounding Sexuality and Individuals with Intellectual Disability, A Patients Right to Autonomy Opposed to a Families Wishes and Organ Donation. Gift of Life or Sacrifice?
The two ethical concepts this nursing class was based on is deontology (Greek for "Obligation") and utilitarianism. Deontology focuses on the actions that create the outcome. Nurses who believe in deontology respect the patients autonomy. Utilitarianism emphasizes the consequences or outcome of an act rather then the act itself. Nurses who believe in utilitarianism want to maximize happiness no matter the journey. The students had to apply these to ethics to a nursing case. To explain the two ethics I am going to put together my own case.
Amena Kanton is a 26 years old and live in Portland, Oregon. When she was 21 she contracted AIDS. Amena is being treated but her AIDS has progressed to stage four. She has developed Kaposi's Sarcoma and it has spread over her face, legs and mouth. Treatments are painful and even with them she is in pain. Amena has been in pain for a while and is depressed and afraid to show her face, even to her own mother. The doctor has said that she will have 2 months to live. Her health is quickly deteriorating. Amena has been strong but now wishes to end the pain and asks for an physician (commonly doctor) assisted suicide. That means she will be given the means to pass away. Now it is the nurses decision to decide.
Deontology Way: Respecting Amena's wishes the doctor gives her excessive amounts of morphine.
Utilitarianism Way: The nurse believes that Amena could live for years to come and refuses her request. Amena continues to take the treatments and is still in the same mental and physical state. The nurse believes she is doing her duty.
NOTE: I am by no way a professional nurse and this is not the BEST example. Please excuse any errors or unexpected falsehoods.
Where the end justifies the means.
Where the means justifies the end.
Which one matches which ethic?

#27 Wednesday, April 16th, 2008: Adult Cells, Embryo and Human-Animal Embryo

At DCU today the graduate class presented and debated the usage of embryos and conduction of stem cell research from an ethical standpoint. So far this class has been my favorite because it is small and allows free discussion. Similar to Graham School curriculum which is funny because Donal designed it.
Basic Knowledge on Stem Cells:
ES (Embryonic Stem cells) can be used as a regenerative medicine and for tissue cells. ES can be extracted from the inner cell mass of the blastocyst, which is the phase before coming a fetus. The ES cell from the blastocyst are pluripoten meaning that it creates many cell types (i.e. heart tissue, liver cells, etc). ES cells that are from the morula (phase before blastocyst) are totipotent meaning that it creates all cell types and even extra embryonic tissue. Obviously totipotent is better but coming from the morula is more risky.
Something that I was tricked by is the word 'adult stem cell'. The idea I had was a 30 year old man or woman or from 18 and up. Adult stem cell is a very broad term meaning from the fetus phase on up. Adult stem cells research is not conclusive yet but it is known that it can be used as a regenerative medicine. For right now I am not going to get into that.
There is a lot of controversy surrounding the use of ES and stem cells in general. Religious and anti-abortion groups are mostly against the use of ES because it goes against their beliefs. For them, life begins at conception and to use the embryo is to take life away. Another point against the two groups embryos do not have to come from abortion clinics -they can be grown is a petri dish- nor do they have to come from humans. Stem cells can from umbilical cords. The animal/human hybrid stem cell can be grown in the lab as well. What surprised me was that coming to the U.K. is the Animal-Human Embryo Bill. U.K. is very liberal in the case of stem cell research. The U.S. government will not fund the stem cell research and no other embryos are aloud to legally be extracted/created. Only the remaining embryos that existed before the Bush regime are permitted to be used. The U.S. has 500,000 embryos which is not a lot. I am for ES and other stem cell research and the conduction because it can cure peoples terminal illnesses and disabilities.

#27 Tuesday, April 15th, 2008: Dublin Castle

Dublin Castle was commissioned in 1204 by King John of England to protect the city (ironic because city is not in castle), to house the administration for justice and the kings treasure. A Viking fort had been erected in 940 in the same location as Dublin Castle. Remnants of Viking structures can be viewed under the castle (stone fortifications and the moat). Under the castle it is damp, cold and quite creepy. As we walk through the group guide explains when archaeologists excavated underneath (the oldest part of Dublin Castle) they found 125 skulls. The Vikings incarcerated people and starved, tortured and beheaded them. I was fascinated with these old structures but thought was sad. These people contained in small, dark and wet places. Just being under the castle I got a feeling of hopelessness. The walls, floor and ceiling were at least a meter of stone. There is only one way to exit and the door is petite and on a slop of rock.
The Dublin Castle also became a residence for Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and the Old Parliament. Not to mention it functioned as a high security prison. The Dublin Castle has seen many disasters, renovations and regimes. There used to be four towers on the four corners of the castle but they were blown up by gun powder and fire (separate times). Half of Dublin Castle is being used as the Garda (police) headquarters. In fact the old dungeon, Record Tower, houses the Garda Museum. I decided not to got to that because my tour book says that it is something to miss. There are other things that I would rather see like the Archaeology Museum that has 2 million artifacts. I think I am going to spend two days there.
The Upper Court and full view of the Saint Patrick's Hall are not my pictures. The slide show is interactive.

#26 Monday, April 14th, 2008: Knowledge from Calamity

The Moat
Bought a ticket on the 70 bus to O'Connell street today. It takes forever to get to what the Irish call the "City Center". It was probably an hour just to get there. The whole point of the trip was to buy two student 30 day Bus/Luas (light rail system) and then walk all the way to Dame Street to take a tour in the Dublin Castle.
From Hawkins Street I walk across the O'Connell Bridge and up to a convenience store. I get there and ask the clerk for the ticket and HE DIDN'T EVEN ASK FOR MY STUDENT TRAVELCARD! I waisted a week trying to get this card and he does not even ask for it. Time and money. I passed Dublin Castle in the bus. The entrance was like an alley way and was set back. From memory but mostly instinct I was able to find the Dublin Castle. Without even using my map, which, I was really proud of myself. The reasons being because the following:
1)Ireland changes it's street names.
2)Quite frequently there is no signs declaring what street you are on.
3)Not all buildings have #'s in their addresses
4)When there are street signs its on the corner of buildings. Confusing for a number of reasons.
5)One street that curves a little can have multiple street names.
I wondered around looking for the tourist entrance, after all it is a castle and is very big. Finally I found the entrance and was stopped by a high ranking (well at least I think he was because he had a lot of stripes) military official.
He said that it was closed...
The next day I discovered that international diplomats were there to talk about the Lisbon Treaty. The Lisbon Treaty amends the current EU and EC treaty with new alterations. The treaty will strengthen democracy in Europe and also the European Parliaments powers over budget and legislation. That is if a majority of the European countries come to a consensus. I guess Ireland is a key player in passing the Lisbon Treaty. From what I gleamed from the Irish Times is that Ireland is showing doubts about the treaty.
To be on the safe side I decided to use my map to my bus stop. To make a long story short I got horribly lost for 2 1/2 hours. That shows me for using a map.
I did see a few things interesting around the city. Old military officials were swarming the city. I saw hearse pass by carrying a visible coffin. Two seconds later their was another hearse completely identical. It was like a Freaky Friday but actually a Monday. Later I found out that the two-term ex President Patrick Hillery died. Thus my theory about the 2 identical hearses is that one was a decoy in case someone was to blow it up. Maybe I am thinking too much like James Bond or Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.
I am glad I got lost because now I know the South side very well.

Half Abandoned Road

#25 Sunday, April 13th, 2008:Birthday and Grandma O'Mathuna

Cheri and Donal are incredibly wonderful people. Cheri took me to the Irish version of Circuit City and bought a bunch of Irish movies for me to watch and an alarm clock. Next week they are going to Nice, France to celebrate their anniversary and Donal's 46th (?) birthday for three days. Which is on this upcoming Tuesday. Peter is probably going to stay at a friend’s house in Beachwood and Conor will stay at home and study for national exams.
I thought that OGT's were bad! National Exams are not something you study for weeks before the tests. Every level of high school students studies for months. Conor sometimes stays an hour and a half after school to study. He has been sick for the past three days and he still studies for hours. The amount of subjects differs from 6 to 12 subjects. Mathematics, English, Irish, geography, social studies, and literature are some of the subjects. If the student passes in the test they are awarded with a Leaving Certificate, allowing them to go to college. The test itself is not multiple choice but essay, leaving room for the test to be scored in a biased way. Catrina O'Mathuna (who goes to Columbus State) had 33 hours of essays. Suicide rate from national exam ages (I believe it is 15-17) is high. Suicide rate for boys at this age is 5 times higher then females. Let me give you an example on the point system:
-There are three levels of difficulty: Higher, Ordinary and Foundation.
Kid 1 is taking a Foundation test and kid 2 is taking a Higher test. They both score 100%. Kid 1 gets 20 points and kid 2 is awarded with an incredibly higher amount of 100 points. Because kid 2 is able to comprehend at a more advance level he is given more points, furthering his chance of getting the Leaving Certificate. But kid 1 did just as well with getting an equally high percentage on the exam. Why should he get 80% less? It is not his fault that he is on a different pace.
What is really disappointing in educational system here is that depending on the student’s scores determines what career and college you are aloud to enroll in. Kid 2 is now stuck with a few digits that ultimately determine what his next 40 years is like. It is so unfortunate for kids who struggle -like my brother-. This infuriates me. A few digits should not condemn anyone’s future and dreams.
On a lighter tone Donal's mum said she would be happy to take me under her wing for a few days in the small town Ballybay. She loves history so I am hoping, as a local, she will show me around. A locals point of view is more interesting then a tour guides in my point of view.

#24 Friday, Apirl 11th, 2008: Greyhound Racing, A Culture Experience

I gambled today. Don't freak out. It is legal and it was a fundraiser for a boys football (soccer) team. Gambling is not taboo here, in fact it is a social event. There were five year old boys yelling obscenities with their ticket in hand. The Irish seem to be blatant swearers. This is no joke! I was riding the bus today and two older ladies were swearing up a storm, like true pirates. It was a wee bit (Irish way of saying "little") creepy.
There are all different ways of betting in Irish greyhound racing. The popular way is "To Win", that means a person picks a dog that they think will win first place. The hardest one to win is the "6 Jackpot". To win this you have to nominate at least one dog to win first place in 6 of the races. Betting minimum is only 2 euro. I gambled on 5 of the eleven dogs. The dogs names were as follows: Georgies Lass, Florida Dynamite, Becky Mc, Jamaican Star and Imp Prince (by far the most ridiculous name).
Check out the video of Donal's technical difficulties with my camera.

#23 Thursday, April 10th, 2008: Blanchardstown Mall

I got my Student TravelCard today!! I am so excited because now I can get my 30 day Student Bus/Luas Monthly Ticket. Transportation is ridiculously expensive here. I will go tomorrow to get the ticket. I went to the biggest shopping mall in Ireland, Blanchardstown. It is 1/2 the size of Easton. Meaning half the monstrous size of Easton. I made a friend and boy was he happy to see me!

#22 Wednesday, April 9th, 2008: Mr.Whippy

For the past week I have had electrical dysfunctions with my laptop. Fortunately Donal has a friend who is a European Apple expert. Now I have to get caught up with a weeks worth of blogging. So much has happened in a week! Today my plans were foiled in getting the Student TravelCard, once again.
I was running after an ice cream truck because I wanted to get a picture. The surrounding 8 year olds who were also running were giving me a weird look. I wonder why. The ice cream truck is called Mr.Whippy which is absolutely the best name ever.
I went to Dublin City University today and attended a two hour graduate lecture on the compatibility of religion and science. Four of the students presented their facts and opinion. Two were Christian and Catholic and they decided that religion was compatible with religion. The Christian said that religion and science both involve theoretical and practical knowledge and thus they can mesh on different levels. The Catholic (forgive me I don't have their names) said that they are going to have to be compatible because they are long lasting. The other two are atheists. The first atheist said that science is fact based while religion is derived from myths. He also said that people are happy to live in a technological society along the side of watered down religion. The other atheist made a really poor argument. He was said they were not compatible because of bad childhood feelings that he had for catholicism. This guy had no evidence.
It is weird sitting in on these classes on ethics because it is completely different then my third quarter Walkabout with scientists. Ethics is based on opinions and science is based on proven fact.

#21 Tuesday, April 8th, 2008: Relationship of Prayer with Science and Communication

Donal (Don-NO) is the family father of the O’ Mathuna family. Donal is very nice as is the rest of the family. Donal at his work goes by "Doctor or Professor O' Mathuna". Fortunately for me because I wanted to take classes. Thus I started taking classes at Dublin City University (DCU), not to be confused with University College of Dublin. I tried getting on the right side of his car and he told me I was not aloud to drive. I've done this about 20 times now. I keep forgetting that in Europe the drivers seat is on the right : )
The class was taught by Donal and was based on a Study of the Therapeutic Effects of Intercessory Prayer (STEP). As put by Wikipedia it is "A Christian practice, intercessory prayer is the act of one person praying for or on behalf of another". Since the great technological emergence in science of the 20th century prayer has been subject to prayer to scientific scrutiny. A newspaper headline in Donal's presentation exclaimed "God under the microscope. Prayer is subject to scientific observation, says Bishop." STEP had randomized studying meaning that the people not specifically selected. Completely anonymous. One group knew they were receiving prayer, another was unsure and did not receive and the third group did not know and did not receive. These people all had one thing in common; they were all cardiac surgery patients. The conclusion was that the group that was prayed had the worse health. To counter that and be fair, the study was very general and received much criticism by scientists and Christian folk.
It hard to express the beauty of Ireland. Industry is booming here but Donal tells me that Ireland is protecting natures with laws. Which by the way we (US) lack.
Listening to Metallica's Am I Evil? it's very enlightening and mom I dedicate this song to you. Just kidding, I love you. Oh and mom I am eating Cheri's salads.
Ireland weather is unpredictable. Rain, bright sunshine, to hail, then sunshine again. Check out the video I shot.

#20 Monday, April 7th, 2008: Flight to Ireland

The title of this blog is actually misleading. It should be flight to Washington D.C. then to Ireland. The accumulation of hours spent in the airport and on the plane is 21. Twenty-one hours and eight minutes. Three more hours and it would have been a day. The first plane ride was OK but an 8th grade group was traveling to Washington D.C. to instill that patriotic sense (speaking from experience). Needless to say that it was a small plane and adolescent, walking [sitting] hormones, boy crushing, ParisHiltonite talking girls were LOUD. Not to mention that they said "like" at the beginning and ending of every sentence.
But that's like fine because I like listened to Mozart on my iPod.
Dulles (pronounced dull-ist, a soft t) airport is the biggest airport that I have ever been to. I am not going to go into details about my eight hour layover because I definitely was not having a ball. I got loss twice, it was absolutely immense, and I got stuck in the area where people buy their tickets.
The Aer Lingus flight was amazing. Seats were big and comfortable. Nobody was sitting next to me so I got an extra pillow and blanket. Score! The armrest pulled up so I made a bed. The vegetarian dish was Indian food; chickpeas, rice and spinach. Also served with Tillamook cheese and crackers, cheesecake, mint chocolate, soda bread (Irish dinner) and a salad.
The plane flew over many states/countries during the night. Cities looked like molten gold over a dusty blanket. It was dusk when Aer Lingus flew down to Dublin Airport, the light pink and blue colors splattered over the sky were beautiful.