The End

This is it, folks. This is my last blog that I will be writing in Ireland. It’s bittersweet. I am super excited to go home and see my family, but I am not quite ready to leave this place. I have learned so much here. I’ve learned more than Irish history and literature though. I have learned more about myself than I thought possible. I have learned how I want to live my life. I have learned to look at things in a different way. When I decided to go on this adventure I knew I would learn different things in the various classes that I took, but I am still in awe of the impact that this experience has made on my life and me as a person. Because of the impact that was given to me, I was supposed to impact Ireland in a positive way in return. This semester, one of the requirements was to take part in a service learning project. It was a little more than difficult to find something that fit the requirements. However, I was able to find something—I was able to help Geraldine in the kitchen for an event that Park Lodge was holding. Geraldine sure knows what she’s doing. I know she and the rest of her assistants appreciated the help that Emily, Sara, and I were able to give in the 4 hours that we spent in the kitchen. While we helped, we were also taught different cooking methods and tricks. I will definitely go home and put then into place as well some of the recipes that she taught us in the process of helping out in the kitchen. I was also able to meet Geraldine’s mother in the kitchen as well. I really enjoyed visiting with her as she told stories of her experiences that she has had. Ireland has changed my life—it’s changed me. I am not ready to leave, but I know that I will be coming back one day.

Field Trip North!

This last weekend we took a trip up to Northern Ireland. I really enjoyed myself—I had been waiting a while for this trip because the Titanic museum is in Belfast. Now folks,  if you know anything about me, you know how much I love the history behind Titanic. Leo hooked me when I was four, what can I say? The group was placing bets on how much money I would spend. That’s the kind of obsession we’re talking about here. This museum is SPECTACULAR. It’s huge and informative. It was opened only 4 years ago for the centennial anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. It takes you behind the scenes—what it took to prepare for it to be built, how and when it was built, passengers of the ship, the sinking of the ship, and the aftermath of the sinking. There’s nine galleries and even a little ride in this building. It was absolutely amazing to be able to have a better, non-Hollywood version of the Titanic. But we did more than just go to the Titanic museum. We visited the Belleek Pottery Company and saw their process with their pieces. We drove through Derry-London-Derry and looked at the murals there. We felt the tension in Belfast between two different and clashing communities. We walked over the Carrick-a-Rede bridge and visited Giant's Causeway. 

 Overall, the field trip was wonderful. Other than the museum, my favorite part of the trip was simply travelling. I love to see the different landscapes that Ireland has. From mountains to the ocean to rolling hills speckled with sheep, there is always something new to look at. I don’t think I could ever get tired of it. I only have a little more than two weeks here, and I am already missing the smell of the ocean and the rain. I do miss  home, but the Emerald Isle is my favorite place in the world.

Social Life

One of the more popular questions people ask me revolves around my social life. I won’t lie to you; I had expectations before coming. All of those expectations have been surpassed but for reasons you may not be expecting. The pubs are crazy fun. The craic is real. But the craic and the pubs were only as fun as the people I surrounded myself with.  So, to the crazy 16 cats that went on this wonderful adventure with me, thank you. Thank you for showing me that whether we are throwing birthday parties in Cabin 4 or hen parties in Taaffes the craic is with you all.  Thank you for learning the tricks of the trade with me. Thank you for making sure I didn’t get lost in Rome (Michael) or stranding myself in the middle of a stream trying to take the perfect picture. Thank you for hanging in the back with me because I don’t like to walk fast and I have to take 200 pictures. Thank you for singing to “Galway Girl” and “She Will Be Loved” on the bus with me. Thank you for watching movies with me and sharing cuddles and eye rolls from the back of the bus. Thank you for supporting me when my dad got sick—you were all hardly more than strangers but you surrounded me with love and comfort. Thank you for the laughs and the memories. Thank you for being the individuals you are because you each brought something unique and special to this trip. The 16 of you have impacted my life in a way no one else ever can. I will look back on this trip for the rest of my life with a smile on my face. The craic is real and the craic is all of you. Cheers to making friends with the most unlikely of people!

Locals

  I’m supposed to talk to all of you about the locals that I have met thus far. And let me tell you—I have met some characters. Okay, most of the people I’ve met have been characters.  I will say this though—all of the people that I have met have been nothing but nice, polite, and genuine. The people here have graciously accepted me into their culture and have taught me more about Ireland and its people than I could have ever learned out of a book. They have let me experience so much more than I ever thought I could here. I love Ireland and I love it so much because of the people here and the lives they lead. They are a hard working bunch who go out of their way to help other people. They welcome people and show them the ropes even if they don’t know them from Adam. I met a taxi driver who brought me back to Park Lodge and he talked to me and taught me Irish during our 25 minute car ride. Joe, the owner at Freeney’s Bar, let me get behind the bar pour a pint of Guinness for a customer. Hutch and Brendan, friends of mine, sat me down and explained hurling to me—the American girl who knew literally nothing about any Gaelic sport. JP helps me with anything I could even need help with. Geraldine knows her way around the kitchen and I can’t wait to utilize what she’s shown me. The people I have surrounded myself with want me to experience Ireland just as much I do. Ireland is my new favorite place in the world and I can honestly say that it wouldn’t and couldn’t be without the people that I’ve met along the way. Everyone here asks, “What’s the craic?” The craic is the people; they are what make Ireland Ireland.  And there’s no way I could ever thank them enough for what they’ve given me—a new perspective on life, on the world, and myself. 

Language Barriers

This last weekend, I was able to travel to Rome, Italy for a few days. It was absolutely marvelous—definitely make the time to go. Seriously, it was more than I could have ever expected. Up to that point, I would say that there was an enormous language barrier here in Ireland. Now, though, I do think there is a very small language barrier in Ireland in the grand scheme of things simply because everyone speaks English. There are very few people that I have encountered that speak Irish outside of the classroom. As a matter of fact, the people that I have talked to hate the language and find it useless especially coming from the younger generation. I can and will say that there are times where I don’t catch everything a person is saying when I’m having a conversation and I need them to repeat what they had said. I can say that their accents differentiate between location and age and they always talk rather quickly—faster than what I am used to back home.

Apart from verbal language barriers, there is also a written language barrier. While I was in Rome, everything was in Italian and very few signs were in English. It’s different in Ireland. English is used on the sign, but so is Irish and Irish is used first for the most part. I appreciate the English used and utilized in  Ireland so much more now after being in a country that does not use it.

While I’m here I am studying the Irish language. It is hard.  We learn very simple words and phrases and it still is enough to get me frustrated because I can’t pronounce half of what I’m trying to say.  I personally think it is so hard because consonants and vowels have very different sounds that what I am used. For example, the letter combination of “bh” sounds like the Endglish “v.” Because of my English background, I like to learn the grammar behind a language, but my teacher said it is complicated even for native language speakers. It is a hard language, but I truly do enjoy trying to learn and I try to practice at the grocery store, pubs, and restaurants.