Sick in a foreign country alone… Not exactly something I ever prepared myself to experience, nor did I want to.

About a month I started to have severe eye pain  and blurriness of vision, so I called my doctor back home and scheduled an appointment for when I got back, thinking that I would be fine until then. The pain continued to increase so I finally made an appointment with a general practioner here in Limerick. That was scary in itself, as I’m a skeptic when it comes to most doctors that aren’t my own. After seeing the GP she said I needed to go to the emergency room immediately. I begged and pleaded with her, hoping there would be some other way to get this resolved, but there wasn’t so I took her advice. The hospital is pretty far from the city centre where I normally go, so I called for a taxi and headed off into the unknown. 

I walked into the emergency room and I can’t think of a time where I was more scared. I was in a foreign country, I didn’t have my mum, and I was about to get medical attention from a doctor that I wasn’t familiar with. I waited in the emergency room for five hours before they finally called me back. Luckily, I met this darling old couple who stayed with me the entire time. It was comforting to have someone there to “look after me” so to speak. After seeing the doctor who performed an eye exam, he told me I was fine but that I needed to see an optometrist. I figured I would just suffer through the pain for another few weeks and would deal with it when I got home. It had just been too long of day. I headed back to to my apartment and wasn’t planning on stopping anywhere, however I knew that I had a sinus infection and should probably stop at the pharmacy. Reluctantly, I stopped at the pharmacy and much to my surprise, there was an optometrist… they closed in 15 minutes but were willing to see me anyone. Within 15 minutes I was in and out of there with a diagnosis and a pair of glasses and what a relief it was!

I’ve since been in bed since, as I have a terrible sinus infection/ flu. Being sick has certainly made me more homesick though. It’s tough being alone in a foreign country without anyone to take care of you when you’re sick.

If there’s one thing this experience has taught me though, it’s that I am capable of doing far more than I think I can. I live alone back home so I’m already use to doing things on my own, but it’s different because when I get sick, or when something goes wrong, I know that my family and boyfriend are but an hour away. It was scary in that the only person I could rely on getting me better was myself. It was a good experience in that I learned I am very capable of taking care of myself, even when I have no one else to fall back on. 

I’m off to Edinburgh, Scotland this weekend and I could not be more excited. Until then, I will be in bed.

Cheers!

How is it possible that it’s already week nine and my time here is almost over? It seems like it just began. I apologize that it’s been a few weeks since I’ve last written, some weeks there just not much to report on.

When I made the decision to study abroad, I was prepared to just stay in Ireland. I didn’t have any expectations of visiting other countries, that way I wouldn’t be disappointed if I didn’t. I wanted to fully submerge myself in Ireland and soak up every piece of it before I even began to think about traveling. However, I did take a trip to London this last weekend and it was phenomenal. On the first day in London my friends and I saw all of the touristy things such as Big Ben, London Tower Bridge, London Bridge, and Buckingham’s Palace. The second day my dream came true and I saw the performance of The Lion King at the famous Lyceum Theater in London. I could have died that day and been a happy woman. Later that evening we met up with my friend’s cousin who lives there and he showed us some of the less touristy parts of London. It was a great experience to see the best of both worlds. We were there for two full days and I really feel like we covered a vast majority of London. Standing in front of these famous places didn’t seem real. I’d spent so much of my life seeing these monuments on television, hearing, and reading about them that to finally see them in person was surreal. There’s so few words to describe what it was like to see those monuments, the only thing I can say is that it really did not feel real: it was phenomenal.

The two things that took some adjusting two in London was the transportation and currency. I’ve almost mastered the bus schedule within Ireland, however public transit in London is a completely different story. They have trains, the tube, busses, etc. It was a chaotic mess. I’m thankful to have been with friends who have traveled internationally before and actually understood how it worked. The currency was also a bit of an adjustment. I’d finally gotten use to  Euros when all of a sudden I had to switch over to pounds. The exchange fluctuated between 1.5 and 1.9 during my time there, which made everything so expensive.  All in all though, it was an incredible trip!

When I left to study abroad I left my boyfriend behind. Because of that, I’ve spent the vast majority of my time counting down the days until I’m reunited with him. I think that I’ve been very preoccupied with the idea of coming home, that I missed out on otherwise fun opportunities. I’m thankful for great man who I have in my life, but sometimes I can’t help but wonder how different this experience would have been if I didn’t have one-if I wasn’t so focused on coming home.

I’ve had incredible adventures and opportunities while I’ve been here, but looking back on the last 9 weeks, I don’t think I’ve taken as full advantage of the experience as I necessarily “should” have.

On a less depressing note, I have not managed to get sick while I’ve been here which is an absolute first, seeing a last year along I had the flu 3 times. It also hasn’t rained NEARLY as much as I expected, in fact, it’s been clear skies almost every day. My red rain boots won’t be coming into use after all. I also booked a trip to Scotland AND I changed my plane ticket to come home a week earlier as I’ll be done with finals. Two things I’m very excited about.

Here are a few pictures of my trip to London

Buckingham’s Palace

I’m probably the only person who thinks this, but I absolutely hate hostels. Instead we used Air bnb and got this adorable little room. For three nights it was only 64$ for each of is.

Buckingham’s Palace

Big Ben

London Tower Bridge

As mentioned earlier, trying to understand the tube was absolutely chaotic. I think I’ll stick to my car.

Lyceum theater where I saw the performance of The Lion King

If there was one thing I was missing more than Starbucks and my boyfriend was Chipotle. I made it my mission the moment I stepped off the plane to find one AND I DID! It was the best 17$ burrito I’ve ever had.

It’s hard to think that week five have already passed me by, and I’m embarking on week six. My journey is almost half way over and yet I feel like I’m just beginning. I had this ideology in my head of what studying abroad would look like and if I’ve learned anything over the last few weeks, it’s that things aren’t always how they appear.  Although I’m an introvert who doesn’t drink, I imagined that would suddenly change while I was here. That would suddenly go out to parties all the time, meet new people constantly, drink in bars till all hours of the night and that regardless of what I was doing, it would always be an adventure. That too is not the case. Studying abroad has been a beautiful experience, I’ve met new people, I’ve had adventures, but I’ve also spent quality time inside, with my self. I haven’t drank or gone to bars that many times while I’ve been here, and though that was how I imagined it to be, I’m okay that it’s not.

The last few weeks have been stressful, hence my lack of writing on my blog. I’ve more or less quit my job back home, have been applying relentlessly for new ones, while also trying to find a new place to live (bless my sister’s heart who has taken the reigns on finding me a place to live and moving me in while I’m gone). I was also offered a job, but because I’m in Ireland I had to decline. I’ve felt as though my life was passing me by in Oregon, and here I am in Ireland unable to do anything about it. I almost began to regret traveling abroad. I’d see pictures of my friends back home and I so desperately wished I was with them. It was as though I was trying so hard to live my life as if I was back in the states, that I forgot about the life I have here in Ireland and the incredible opportunity I have to be studying over here. A friend of mine has a tattoo that says, “breath in the moment”. I use to mock him relentlessly for it, but now I finally understand the meaning behind it. It’s the idea of being present wherever you are,to soak in and appreciate the here and now.  Since coming to that realization, my outlook on this experience has certainly changed.

This last week I decided to take full advantage of being in Ireland. My roommate and I visited the sweet little town of Ennis on Friday which is about an hour away from Limerick.  My favorite part about visiting new towns is the bus ride getting there. I love driving through Ireland and seeing the beautiful scenery. Ennis was a picturesque town with colored houses and adorable shops. Everyone was so nice too. Correction, everyone in Ireland is nice period, not just in Ennis. We visited a small coffee shop that had drinking chocolate. {if you don’t know the difference, I highly recommend you try it. It’s like hot chocolate but it’s made with real chocolate. Once you try it, you will never drink regular hot chocolate again}. The owner also set out complimentary blankets outside so you could drink your beverage outside and still be warm.   On Saturday my study abroad program went to Kilkenny which is about two hours from where I live.  There was only 2 people from my school going (the rest go to Dublin University so the taxi driver was so thoughtful and made stops along the way so we could see more Ireland. We stopped at a couple of castles along the way, which was fun. In Kilkenny we went to Kilkenny castle which a phenomenal sight to see. We also visited the Smithwick’s brewery. Smithwick’s is a very popular beer here. Personally, I thought it tasted like Bud Light, which is gross. No thank you! We did however get a free pint so I don’t have much to complain about (: The great thing about doing a study abroad program is that there are trips included in the cost. It really gives you the opportunity to see places that you may otherwise not have the chance to see.

I’ve made it a point to start exploring more of Ireland. It hit me the other day that I only have two more months is this beautiful country. The way of life is just completely different. It’s a slower pace, people are so friendly, friendly, generous, and always happy to strike up a conversation. People are traditional in their ways, and the kindness that is shown to strangers is unreal.  I’m feeling nostalgic for it and missing it already.

The most adorable little coffee shop in Ennis.

The sweet little town of Ennis.

I have never seen anything as beautiful as Ireland in the Fall.

A few of my friends from Dublin University. It’s crazy to think that at the end of this journey I will have friends froma all over the word.

Smithwick’s brewery. The beer wassn’t so wonderful, but it was awesome to learn about its history see the facility.

Killkenny Castle

Rolling hills of Ireland. This is exactly how I imagined Ireland to be. The pictures don’t serve as justice to how beautiful this country is.

I was able to study abroad by going through a program called, CIS abroad. In Ireland, they have two schools which they send students to: University of Limerick, and Dublin City University. The two universities are about two and a half hours away from each other so there isn’t a lot of interaction between us. However, as part of our program there are four excursions planned through out the year. The students from both universities in CIS Abroad attend the excursions together. It’s a great way to meet new students from other areas.

This last weekend we had our first excursion to Galway, which is about an hour and a half away from Limerick where I’m currently living. There are only three other students on my campus that are in the CIS program with me, however, there are fourteen students in Dublin. It was so great being introduced to a larger group of people. coincidently enough, there were two students from Western Oregon University, where I attend school in the states, studying in Dublin through CIS. It was so nice connecting with people from the my home state and school. Who would have thought that we would actually miss our small school in good ol’ Monmouth, Oregon, but enough about that-back to Galway.

Galway is a beautiful city. It was hard coming back to Limerick today because well.. Galway is SO much nicer than Limerick. Everything is within walking distance, the streets, the people, the shops etc was exactly the picture I saw in my head of what Ireland would look like.

The group stayed two nights in Galway in a hostel right downtown. This was my first experience staying in a hostel and it wasn’t terrible. We were lucky in that all the people in our room were from our program. Though I could see how it would be a little more awkward sharing a 12 bed room with 12 other people you don’t know. The room was crammed; here were 6 bunk beds and one bathroom with two showers and toilets. It was fun to experience staying in a hostel, as I’ve heard so much about them, however, I think from now on…I’ll stay with hotels.

While being in Galway we had the chance to visit the Aran Island, and the cliffs of moher. We took a ferry ride out to one of the three islands where we were able to see the cliffs of moher in passing. The island that we visited was the smaller of the three. It  has a population of around 200 people and is about 2.5 miles in size.  There were two schools on the island: a primary and secondary, a landing strip for planes to come and go, and 3 cafés / restaurants. It was an adorable island. You could rent bikes to get around and there were a few horse and buggies too. Though I can’t imagine ever living there. Any time you’d have to go to the store you would have to either fly or take a ferry which is about a 30 min ride. What is enjoyable about that? LOL. Though it was certainly fun to experience.

Along with visiting the islands, we also stopped to hike along the cliffs of moher. I’ve spent months looking at pictures of cliffs-captivated by the beauty of them. Yet as I stood along them, it still didn’t feel real. I couldn’t fathom that I was standing along one of the most beautiful attractions in the world. When people think of Ireland, if they often think of these cliffs, and here I was experiencing them.  It was a very surreal experience for me.

Galway was an incredible trip and by far one of the highlights since I’ve arrived in Ireland.

The island

One of the ways of traveling on the island

Plassey ship reck that crashed along the island. Of the six people on the ship, all of them survived. When the ship crashed, it was carrying the first toilet to the island which is still in use today.

A few of the girls from DCU

Of the things I was prepared to see in Ireland: clear water and dolphins were not one of them.

Cliffs of Moher

Downtown Galway

First night out in Galway

The hostel we stayed in. As you can see, it is very crammed.

Irish Coffee (: t

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It’s hard to believe that week two is already coming to an end. It seems like just yesterday that I got off the plane and stepped into the beautiful country of Ireland. Time here seems to vanish in a blink of an eye. Though that could be because I’m still not entirely adjusted to the time and Europe is eight hours ahead.

I started my first week off classes and much to my surprise, they’re not nearly as difficult as I anticipated though they are HUGE. An average class back home is between 25-30 people, whereas here a single class may be anywhere from 100-500 people. I feared that going into a foreign country where a single class is six credits {and I’m taking four of them}, that I’d be ill-equipped and fail. Luckily, that does not seem to be the case. Most my classes have between two and four assignments over the entire term, including the final. One of my classes for instance has a singular paper that’s due at the end of the term and voila-that’s the class. It’s nice not having tiny five or ten point assignments thrown at you each week as busy work-this I could get use to.

I made it into the city alone this week which was a major accomplishment. Public transportation is a completely foreign concept to me, let alone doing so alone so this was a huge deal. Turns out, it’s not as terrible as I thought it would be. It’s almost freeing, not having to rely on anybody else. The problem with going with people is that you go with them wherever they want to go, and you may not have the time you want to spend at the stores you want to see. Learning to be alone or go places alone has been scary. I fear the judgement of others and am extremely self-conscious, but why? Being alone is a beautiful thing and is completely and utterly freeing.

The stereotype that the Irish drink a lot is not a stereotype it’s the bloody truth. People here party and go hard every single night.. even school nights. This is too is completely foreign to me. Back home I would find myself on a Friday night drinking a bottle of wine either alone or with my boyfriend, watching a documentary and in bed by 10pm-11 if I was feeling like a bad ass. Not to mention, I don’t really drink. I love the simple life that I have back home: it’s quiet, it’s quaint, and it’s mine. Life in Ireland is completely different. People socialize by going out to the bar and the clubs. One of the hardest transitions for me here in Ireland is laying my introvert tendencies to rest and pulling myself out of bed at 10pm to go socialize and the bar or club. Though I haven’t mastered this skill yet, as in, I haven’t summoned the energy to get out of bed at night to socialize, it’s my hope that I will. I need to let go and indulge in activities that I wouldn’t otherwise do back home-I need to explore different activities and even sides of myself. It’s so easy to fall into the habit of laying in bed watching Netflix alone, but I didn’t pay nearly $20,000 to have that type of experience. If that’s what I wanted, I should have stayed home.

I’d say that overall I’ve been very fortunate traveling to this country-I haven’t faced many big “culture shocks”. People speak English which is one less barrier I’ve had to face. I can’t imagine howe difficult it is for those individuals who’s second language is english. The weather here is also very similar to back home and the people are friendly, if not friendlier than back home as well.  Though people speak slightly different, and drive on the wrong side of the road, I’ve been very lucky that I haven’t faced any extreme differences between back home. In fact, being in Ireland feels like home.<3

Also, HUGE shoutout to Sarah Nagel who has answered every single one of e-mails about helping me register for classses. Trying to find classes over here that meet the requirments back home has pain such a pain in the bum. Sarah has been AWESOME about helping me find classes last minute. Thank you!!!

After 13 hours in the air, I’m finally “home”-home for the next three months it is. I arrived at Shannon International Airport about 20 min away from Limerick and it was just as I imagined- all my preconcived notions were actually correct:

1.It’s sunday, so everything is closed and it’s very quiet.

2.There’s greenery and castles everywhere I look.

3.The accents are strong and I could listen to people talk all day.

4. It’s in the country side so it has a calm, mellow feel.

5. Everyone is friendly and very c’est la vie

Igot into the taxi and the woman who picked me up was so excited for my arrival she gave me a hug. Let me tell you one thing about the Irish: They are so incredibly nice.  I had a near heart attack the moment I got into the car and saw cars driving at us. I don’t think I will ever get use to cars driving on the opposite road.

Things that I was most surprised by:

1.The nearest town is Limerick which is about 20 min away by bus-it’s not in the city where you can go downstairs and grab something to eat. Trips have to be methotical and there’s not as much acess to things when you need them quickly. I see that as being the most problematic for me.

2. The apartment is nice but rather empty. I’m thankful I brought a towel and a blanket otherwise I would have had to dry off with clothing, and would be sleeping on a cold matress.

3. The time difference. It’s hard commuticating with people back home when the time difference is eight hours.

This next week I have orientation and classes start on the 7th-looking forward for what’s ahead

Until then,

Living area

Kitchen.

View from my balcondy

Walking into the apartment this is what it looks like. I The 6 doors on each wall are private bedrooms with a bathroom. Luckily, we don’t have to share. The door straight ahead takes you into the common room /living room