After my bags decided to go missing in transit, my last international travel experience began with a week of wearing the same outfit lacking contacts, make-up, and every other thing any girl might wish to have while visiting Italy. So, as soon as I was reunited with my luggage after an eight-hour plane ride, I knew that good things awaited me in Limerick, Ireland despite its notorious nickname, “stab city.” It’s a good thing I have some graduating to do back at Creighton next semester, or else I might find myself extending this adventure indefinitely.
Life here is grand, as the Irish say. The grass is green. The accents are charming. The sea is captivating. And, the rainbows always associated with Ireland really do exist (although I have yet to spot a leprechaun).
Did I mention the Guinness? This past week, I was lucky enough to partake in Guinness Day, a national celebration honoring Arthur Guinness, the founder of the very first Guinness brewery. At 5 pm, the bar on campus gave away 100 free pints of Guinness. For those of us in class at 5, there were many more cheap pints to be had at pubs throughout town later that evening. Although Ireland is known for Guinness, they also have delicious hard cider. If you ever get the chance to visit, make sure to try a pint of Bulmers.
While I’m here, the University of Limerick is my home. As a study abroad student, I live in a village on campus made up of about 80 houses. There are six people in my house: two Irish “lads,” one Irish girl, a French guy, and another American girl. I am enjoying the small house atmosphere and getting to know them all. We’ve had some great bonding moments already including the night when a robber crawled through our window and attempted to steal our silverware. Don’t worry, though, he was chased down in no time and dropped those forks, knives, and spoons upon command.
I finally have my class schedule down. I’m taking Russian politics, Irish music and dance, Irish literary revival, Irish folklore, and American literature. The class system is different here. Courses consist of two lectures and a tutorial. Lectures are strictly lectures with very little interaction, and the tutorials are a deeper and more extensive examination of the topics discussed in class. Besides the new course structure, Russian politics has been in a different room every day, and one of my Irish music classes did not exist at all. I found this out after sitting in an empty room for about five minutes. Needless to say, it takes a little getting used to.
Still, there is nothing like reading the poetry of Yeats in the country where it was written or learning all about Irish music from instructors who have grown up listening to it their entire lives. The words I read within the pages of my textbooks come alive as I’m immersed in the culture they discuss.
My adventures so far have included a trip to Galway, kayaking down the Shannon River, and receiving a free ride home from the grocery store with a little, old, Irish lady who would not allow me to ride walk a couple blocks to the bus stop with my giant bags.
Also, I took a trip to the dry cleaners after spilling an entire mocha down my coat at the Limerick milk market. It was just like out of a movie, and I had to laugh because in an advertising class at Creighton last year, I wrote an ad where a man spilled a whole cup of coffee down his shirt. I never, however, expected to be the person I described. For a moment after the spill, I wished it had been caught on film for future use in my ad.
As with any foreign country, some things are not quite the same. I miss American milk (it tastes much different here), my car, music at Church, and a couple particular pairs of shoes. Still, I have everything I need and most everything I could want. The Irish are incredibly welcoming, the live bands are better than “P.S. I Love You,” the campus is beautiful, the history is rich, and the pubs and nightclubs are good “craic.”
If there’s one thing I’ve realized, it’s that, at the core, people here are the same as back home. I am repeatedly asked the question, “What do you think of the Irish?” My response? Because of their unique history, the Irish have a national identity and pride slightly different than that of Americans. Still, In Ireland, there are friendly people and cold people. There are students who study and students who don’t. Religion is important to some and not to others. People here have similar hopes, desires, and dreams, but also similar worries, fears, and disappointments as Americans. I have surprised myself with the following conclusion: there are more similarities than there are differences between America and Ireland.
If you would like to read more about my Study Abroad experience and be entertained by some additional stories, visit my blog at http://mal10923.wordpress.com/.