i could dance to this beat forevermore! (pt.2)

So many things have happened in the past month I couldn’t manage to fit it all into one post, just like I know all the adventures I want to take part in will not be able to fit in the short time I have left here. But that’s alright, just put it on the list for my next trip!

But first, London! Ahh it was amazing! I was excited about going to London, but not as excited as other places I want to visit. When we were flying in to Stansted, it was nighttime and the city was just an island of lights surrounded by a sea of darkness, it was one of those things I will always remember! It was the point where I kind of had a self-revelation that I am doing what I have always dreamed of doing. It’s crazy! I haven’t even turned twenty yet and I am successfully living out my dreams!

The trip started out a little bumpy, we misread the military time on the bus schedule to the airport and ended up taking a taxi to make sure we arrived in time. We ended up getting to Shannon airport way faster than we thought and had plenty of time to get visas checked and go through security before our flight. Security was a fun time too. I guess they thought we looked suspicious because they patted me down and went through Frances’ bag. We made it through and went on our way to London! When we arrived we ate dinner, at 11 pm, in the airport. Traveling changes your meal times so much! Anyways then we caught a bus to city centre, getting off at a stop thinking it was kinda close to our hostel- we were wrong. After a bit we caught a taxi and were able to rest in an actual bed. The first big day in London started with visiting Shakespeare’s globe theatre. It was not the original, nor on the original site because it has since been transformed into a car park, but it was still quite spectacular! The outside looked just as I had seen the theater in pictures and the inside was similar, just a bit different in design accents. The tour guide we had was amazing! He definitely made the entire experience even better- even picked us out as Americans 😛 The tour and information given certainly gave me a newfound respect for Shakespeare and his legacy. The Globe sits directly next to the Millennium Bridge, so our next stop was there. And then we traveled to a nice food market, with so many continental food options- it was crazy! The food was delicious though, and inexpensive which is perfect for budget college students! After we were no longer hangry, we walked to London’s big tourist attractions: Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, and many more. When we were at Buckingham Palace we saw a changing of the guards, which was pretty awesome! They are so precise and rigid- it’s insane that they are able to do that all day, but on a day when the queen is there (like the day we were!) it is vital that they are doing everything up to par. The reason the queen was in town was for the Poppy festival and for Remembrance Day celebrations. It was pretty remarkable to be in London for this special day, even without us planning it, I even donated some money to get a poppy to take home. To end day one in London, we watched fireworks over the Eye and the river, while waiting it started pouring so we weren’t even sure if the fireworks were going to happen, but we outlasted the rain and got to see some UK inspired fireworks. Then picked up some fish and chips for dinner.

London day two was an extremely long day! Frances and I woke up at 4am to get to Tower Bridge and watch the sunrise. However, it too a little longer than expected because we got lost on the way to the underground, then found it and realized that on Sunday the underground opens later- so it was closed still. So we started walking to try to find an alternative option, ended up taking a bus to the closest open train station then taking the underground to where we wanted to be. We barely missed sunrise, but it was so foggy that we wouldn’t have been able to get great pictures anyway. Instead we went to a small coffee shop for breakfast and then walked around a small area of London in the early morning. After a short walk, we hopped on a train through the countryside to Harry Potter Studios. Even for someone who is not completely obsessed with Harry Potter, but appreciates it, I was able to enjoy the experience and get more involved in the story and characters. I even tried Butterbeer, it was wayyyy sweeter than I was expecting- the foam icing on top was a lot, but it was still a cool experience! After wrapping up at Harry Potter Studios we traveled to the 9 ¾ platform. I was photographer, it was so funny seeing everyone’s reactions as they approached the platform. Later on, we went on a walk through the park in front of Buckingham Palace to get to the original Hard Rock Café, just to see what it looked like.

Our final morning in London, started out super early again at 4 am to catch the first train to then catch our bus to the airport. We succeeded this morning and managed not to get lost on the way to the train station! Once arriving at the airport, it was super busy for 6am, we got our visas checked and then went to security. Again, we must look like suspicious people because both Frances and I were patted down and my bag was pulled to be searched. However, when the guy scanned the code and looked at the picture he was confused and just handed me my bag. We had time to spare before our flight and just relaxed in the lobby area, then had a nice easy flight back to Limerick, and we were welcomed by cold rainy Irish weather 🙂

I was hesitant about going to London at first, just because I wasn’t sure how much of London I really wanted to see and if it would be worth my while when I could be spending the weekend traveling to another city, but I’m so glad I was able to make this trip happen. It was wonderful and will always be something I remember. London is just one stop on my incredible journey this semester! More wonderful journeys to many amazing and beautiful cities to come! 🙂

Flight time!

the eye

fireworks

Shakespeare’s Globe

Big Ben

Millennium Bridge

London!

i could dance to this beat forevermore! (pt.1)

Over the past month, it began to hit me that my time abroad in Ireland is almost over. It’s crazy to think that this experience I have been preparing for over the course of the past year has gone by so quickly!! But I still have a little over a month in this incredible place and I plan on making the absolute most of it!!! It still feels like a dream being here and traveling to so many amazing places. In the past month I have been to Dublin, Dun Laoghaire, Wicklow, Belfast, and London!

A group of friends and I went to Dublin for a long weekend when we were off from school in October. We started the weekend with wandering around the city, stumbling upon Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, which is beautiful! There is even a little park next to the cathedral. We meet this older man walking his dog in the park and since we are all missing our animals from home, anytime a pet gets near we all adore it! So the same happened with this puppy, and the man began to talk to us and asked where we were from- it just so happened that his daughter lives in the states and she just had his first grandchild. The man was so happy while telling us this story and at the end he just said guess today I’m a grandpa, with a huge smile on his face. It was adorable. 🙂 After the cathedral we walked around some more and came to the Dublin Castel which according to Molly, totally looks like something from Pirates of the Caribbean. We ate dinner at a traditional Irish restaurant where I had a traditional corned beef meal… so yummy!! We also went to Whelan’s pub, which is the pub in P.S I Love You! It looks like it does in the movie, just smaller than I was imagining. Still pretty awesome though! The next day we went to St Michan’s Church where we went into these tombs that hold really mummies. The guide was explaining each one’s possible past according to burial process and artifacts, then he told us that there was this tradition to touch the ring finger of a crusader mummy for good luck… then he asked if we wanted to do it!! Of course we said yes! So I touched an 800 year old crusader mummy’s hand… just a small highlight to the trip! After this we took a tour of the Jameson whiskey distillery and learned all about the history of Irish whiskey and their special process of distilling. And to add to the history and learning of Irishness we then walked, getting a little lost on the way, to the Guinness factory. First of all it is huge! We compared it to the Wonka factory, massive with gates and all! The tour was really cool and it took up a good bit of time going through all the levels. Finally arriving at the top of the building where there is a 360 degree view of Dublin. Even on a cloudy day, it was quite amazing. The next day we traveled by train to Dun Laoghaire. We didn’t know too much about this place before arriving, but it was a beautiful costal Irish town. We had a picnic lunch in a gazebo on the pier and watched people practice sailing. We even saw three rainbows over the course of the time out there. It was a nice place to go and get away for a little while and just sit by the water. I have a thing for oceans and it was nice to just feel and smell the sea. 🙂 After our half day in Dun Laoghaire we traveled to Wicklow by train. We were trying to get to the national park so we could visit some of the places in P.S I Love You, like where they first met; however, we didn’t plan that well and the stop we got off at was not the place we needed to be. And since it was not a busy area, there was only one more train that day at 7 pm. So we had to find something to occupy four hours of our time… we came up with bowling, well it was the only thing to do so it was that or sit in the train station for the time. We had a good time and realized that we are not that great at bowling, at all! Haha We ended up being an hour early to the train station because it was starting to get dark and we didn’t want to wander an unfamiliar city without maps in the dark. And we resorted to playing our movie guessing game, it takes up lots of time! All in all Dublin was a nice trip even with getting lost, we knew it wouldn’t be the last time that happened!

My first out of Ireland trip was with the UL International Society to Belfast, Northern Ireland. The process and three hour wait in line just to get a spot out of 48 to go on this trip was so worth it! The bus ride to Belfast was quite a long one, but we stopped at Newgrange on the way. It is a passage tomb that dates back to the Neolithic period. It is built so that at sunrise on the shortest day of the year, the sun hits the passageway and lights up the entire inside of the tomb. Unfortunately we were not able to go at this time, however they simulated the event and it was still pretty neat. We continued our journey to Belfast and walked around the city some after arriving. Since we went to weekend before Halloween, we had a Halloween themed party with everyone dressing up and we went to this place called Filthy McNasty’s. Though they had a no Taylor Swift policy, it still ended up being a fun place to dance and weird people out with us all dressed up. Then next day, probably my favorite of all the days, we went to the Giant’s Causeway! It was unbelievable! I have heard so many things about it, but finally being there was amazing! We were all covered with seawater by the end of it because the wind was so strong, but none of us even cared because we were all so taken with the causeway. We then traveled back into Belfast and went for a bite to eat and jumped back on the bus for our city tour. During the city tour we were able to see the Peace Murals and learn a little bit about each one. All the murals were relevant since they change generally on a weekly basis. While we were on the bus, our guide was telling us about the gates that separate the different sides of the city, even to this day all the gates close at 6 pm. We passed through the different areas in Belfast, eventually making it over to the Titanic quarter area. While we were on the bus, people passing by thought it’d be fun to throw a rock at the bus window. Nothing was hurt or broken, just shocked us that were right next to the window… All part of the experience in the city! We spent the next day at the Titanic experience, where the ship was actually built. The museum was really interesting, it had a different take on all the aspects of the ship, more about the beginning processes and such from other Titanic exhibits I have been to. Outside the building there was even a smaller boat that was actually used to take passengers out to the Titanic prior to departure. Also, right next to the museum is the studio where Game of Thrones is filmed. We walked over to see if we could catch any of the actors, but we didn’t have any luck. Our final stop on the trip was a spontaneous journey up the hillside to the Belfast Castel. It gave us an amazing last view of the city before heading back to Limerick.

Being 3000 miles from home on this amazing adventure is such an opportunity, but it also means that I miss important things like seeing my little sister perform at the 5A State Marching Band Championship, but distance didn’t stop me. I haven’t missed a state performance since I have been involved with the arts program, and I wasn’t going to make an acceptation this year. I was able to see the performance via Skype, technology is such an amazing thing these days! It made me so happy to be able to see her and the rest of the guard, and how much they progressed after I had to leave them in September. I can’t wait to be back teaching them soon! 🙂

But not too soon! I there is still so much I want to do here, and I know I won’t be able to fit it all in, but hey that just means I can come back soon! 🙂

Dun Laoghaire

Dublin fun

Dun Laoghaire

Giant’s Causeway

Giant’s Causeway

Giant’s Causeway

Peace Murals

Titanic Experience

UL International Society

I feel like I’m where I’m supposed to be!

The past few weeks have been quite filled with adventures, new people and many new experiences I will never forget. I still haven’t gotten over the beauty of this place. Some days I awake and it takes a few minutes to realize that I am in Ireland studying abroad, living my dream. I realize that this is where I am meant to be at this time in my life. It is relatively amazing that I am able to experience this journey before I even turn twenty.

I have been exploring the land a fair amount lately. There was a cultural day in Limerick City Centre when they opened King John’s castle up for free admission, as a college student on a budget this was the chance to see the medieval castle. It was more of a fort structure than castle: the center was an open square area with various structures for the church, dining area, etc. The top of the castle provided a spectacular view of the edge of Limerick city, where urban meets rural. Another adventure we went on was to a tower by the river. Not sure how old the tower itself is, but it is fun to climb to the top and get an aerial view of Limerick. And a good chance to freak out your friends who are afraid of heights 😛

Not only have I been exploring the area, I have also began to learn the language…which is quite exciting!! The language itself is somewhat difficult and differs very much from any language I have learned. Most of the time the way the words are written are not at all how they sound, and then there are other times when it sounds exactly as written. Confusing, but so much fun! J I’m hoping by the end of this semester I will be able to carry on a simple conversation in Irish. That is the goal at least!

At the beginning of this month, I traveled with a group through school to the Blarney Castle and Gardens and Cork. The grounds of the castle were very beautiful! Of course I wandered to the top of the castle and kissed the infamous Blarney Stone!! Check that off the bucket list!! 😀 For a little extra good luck, I threw a coin over my shoulder into the river on the grounds. In Cork, I had my first fish and chips lunch from a small little shop called The Fish Wife. The meal were absolutely delicious!!!!

To start off this past weekend my friends and I went to our first Munster rugby match! It was confusing at first, but we got the hang of it! It is a very interesting sport to watch and be in the stadium for! The day after the match we went on our first overnight trip that we planned for ourselves! It was quite an adventure! We went to Galway and Salthill. Galway is such a beautiful city: the market, the bay, the ocean, the sunset! Everything was just amazing!! It would definitely be somewhere I would like to visit again! Especially so I can jump off the Salthill Prom! 😉

I have some upcoming trips too! This coming week we have Thursday and Friday off from classes so we are going to Dublin for the long weekend! And a few places around Dublin possibly like Wicklow and Dun Laoghaire. Both of these places were used in the film ‘P.S I Love You.’ I’m pretty excited about that! Our plan is to trace some of the places from the film! It’ll be grand! The week after Dublin I am going with a group of about 50 students to explore Belfast and parts of Northern Ireland!! Including the Titanic museum and the Giant’s Causeway!!!! It’s going to be awesomeeeee! I waited in line for three hours to guarantee my spot on the trip, and I know it is going to be soo worth that wait!! 😀

I’m settling into school well. My classes are exciting and different from the states. The clubs and societies I joined are tons of fun as well! I’m learning how to shoot an arrow like Katniss one shot at a time! J The weather is starting to become normal to me, all the random rain showers! I just know to always be prepared for the rain, especially if the weather predictions have the slightest percentage of a chance.

On the other hand, I received some exciting news from home- 1) I am officially transferred to USC Upstate for the spring semester! It’s exciting that I’ll be able to save money and still be working towards my degree at a wonderful institution! And 2) MY PARENTS ARE COMING TO IRELAND!!!!! In November, my parents are going to visit for a week!!!!!! I’m so excited for them to come and see this beautiful country! And they get to see my end of the semester performance for my Irish Dance Class! It’s definitely going to be a week I share with my parents that I will always remember!!!!

I am so in love with this country and this experience! It has been soo incredibly amazing thus far! And I know this is only the beginning of everything! It’s going to be one unforgettable semester full of amazing travel, sights, and people!! ❤

Galway Bay Sunset

‘Momma always says there’s an awful lot you can tell about a person by their shoes”

Fall in Galway

Casually sitting on the top of a castle

Sitting, waiting, wishing

Munster Rugby! (We won too!)

Dia dhuit

I have lived in Ireland for 16 days already! It’s crazy how fast this short time is already flying by! Since the moment the airplane broke through the blanket of clouds, I find things about this place that I fall in love with every day. Whether it’s the sheer beauty of the land, or the friendly people, or the friends I’ve made thus far, every step has been quite grand!

Luckily, when I arrived I was able to unpack my luggage quickly and then catch a nap and get acclimated to being five hours ahead of usual. It didn’t take too long to adjust. Within the first few days in Limerick, I met so many people from all around the world especially at the various orientation sessions we had to attend. I also learned about things like an immersion (you have to heat your own water at certain times of the day and you cannot forget to turn it back off!). Also, that every time I wanted to use an outlet not only did I have to use my adaptor, but I also had to make sure I flipped the switch to turn on the outlet. It was like freshman year all over again, but this time more interesting! We were even treated to a traditional Irish music, song, and dance performance by Celtic Steps. This was definitely a highlight to kick off the semester!

I never thought about the availability of shops internationally, but just for clarification they are not the same as home. Close to campus we have a few grocery-type shops, a TK Maxx (fancy and expensive version of TJ Maxx), and a few miscellaneous stores in a shopping centre. All within a mile walking distance. City Centre however, is about three miles, still walking distance (it’s been done multiple times!) The City Centre is unlike any in the states. The architecture of every building, statue, and bridge is laid out to flow around the Shannon. To me, it was much like a step back in time with modern elements. The perk of being in proximity to the City Centre of Limerick is special for internationals this year because Limerick is the ‘City of Culture’ for 2014, so there is always some sort of something going on in town especially on the weekends. My first weekend in particular, the Royal De Luxe parade was occurring. It was a pretty neat sight to see this huge puppet be controlled by all these people and remote controls. We found this cute little café called Jack Monday’s overlooking the Shannon and King John’s Castle. It was a wonderful place to sit and relax with an ammaazziingg view!! Being in town also provides the chance to interact with locals J One Saturday when my friends and I were walking around, we popped into this quaint Celtic bookshop to look around and ended up talking to the owner for quite some time. She even asked if I was a member of the O’Brien family because I was identical looking to someone she knew from that family. It was exciting to be thought of as an Irish.

My first trip was to the beautiful County Clare. On this trip I was able to visit one of the most prestigious sights in Ireland- the Cliffs of Moher. It was more beautiful than I imagined it would be. For me, it was just crazy to actually be there, standing in a place that I have always dreamed of seeing for myself. It was quite an experience!! And to top it all off, I lived a little on the adventurous side and sat at the edge of the cliffs. It was exhilarating and terrifying all at once, but more than anything else it was definitely one of those moments that I will never forget, a snip-it in time that will forever be a lasting memory.

A week after I arrived classes began. I started to get back into the flow of school, after being off since the beginning of May. Two of my favorite things about going to a university in Ireland is 1) I can learn the Irish language from a fluent speaker of the language and 2) I can learn Irish dance from the Irish World Academy and get school credit to dance! Also, the variety of club and society opportunities available is outstanding!! I decided to join the International Club, Dance UL, and Archery. Archery might be my favorite so far J

To begin our third week in Limerick, my friends and I decided to spend our Sunday walking and we took the river walk along the Shannon River to walk into town. It was a nice two+ hour walk along the beautiful river, all the while playing a movie version of twenty-questions. I’m sure we were entertaining the people passing by us along the way with our enthusiasm! The beginning of this week, I fell to the statistic of the number of internationals that become sick within their first few months abroad; along with most of my housemates. The climate here is much different from that at home and it hit me. But I have some wonderful friends who are taking care of me and making sure I stay well and sane. We even had our first scary movie night on Monday. The movie was actually scary, to everyone’s surprise!

I still cannot believe that I have been abroad for three weeks! My journey thus far has surpassed my expectations! I have met so many lovely people, who I know I will stay friends with long after this journey together comes to an end. When I decided within in myself that I was going to make this semester happen for me, I never would have thought that I would be as in love with this country, the people around me, and everything offered. Being abroad so far for this short time has already began to change me and open my mind. I’m excited about the rest of what the semester has to come, and I can’t wait to savor every moment of my time here.

 

 

Cliffs of Moher

Bridge in City Centre

King John Castle