An Open Letter to my New-found Family

It is often said that it's not really about where you travel, but the company you keep. I came into this study abroad experience with my eyes half open I suppose, so excited to get going on the journey but so comfortable in the daily patterns of my home life. Let's be real: I know we all Facebook stalked each other before arriving on the trip, but how much can you really learn about someone from their Facebook page? Maybe their home town or college. Perhaps if their single or dating. Let me tell you what you can't learn. You can't learn how a person lights up when talking about the things they're truly passionate about, whether it's sailing or llama training or ice hockey. You can't learn how real the hanger truly is after getting lost in a foreign city for hours. You can't learn how it feels to just sit in a hotel room with someone after a really long night and talk about everything that's running through each other's minds. But all of these things and so much more are what I've learned through the past few months with yous. Yes, YOUS. Over our time here I've not only fallen in love with our city but all of you have become my family.

I think that life unfolds before you in a series of revelations. Your friendship has revealed to me things about myself I didn't even know existed. You all have opened my eyes fully to the point where I'm no longer concerned about what is happening at home or if the patterns are changing, but to just live in the moment because we are never going to get these days back. The memories I've made here will never leave my mind. When we go home, things are going to be different. There's absolutely no denying that. Our friends and family will never be able to fully grasp the things that happened to us here. That is a bond that only we will share and to me that's so powerful. Yes, we live scattered all over the United States, distances farther that the width of Ireland, but I can only hope that the distance will mean nothing when it comes to our friendship. Of course there will always be the college nights of getting far too drunk and acting a fool and then fondly reminiscing about it the next morning, but none of those nights will hold the same gravity as making it home from Dicey's at 4am before a bus trip the next day. The endless pregame selfies will never measure up to those taken as a tourist on the selfie-stick. For a while at least I'll look back on everything from study abroad and wish I was back again.

I cannot thank all of yous enough for being my friend over the past few months. Whether it was a night I was conducting the hot mess express or being there for me through the death of my friend, it was never a question of if I'd be able to turn to any of you for help. Thank you for being my travelling companions on this whirlwind adventure. Thank you for sharing your pizza with me, a most valued treasure. Thank you for listening to me complain about the same things over and over and always having a sympathetic ear. Thank you, thank you, thanks a mil.

Our time together in this amazing country is coming quickly to a close but hey, we don't talk about it right? I hope that none of us come out of this thinking YOU BLEW IT. I'm already counting the days until we are reunited.

I started writing this post weeks ago, long before I even considered writing our final papers, because i knew I would never be able to find the words I wanted to fully express my love and appreciation for all of you, but just know this: you've helped me live the life I've always imagined. You have taught me more than any of our professors in school. I've always thought that friends are there to help you become more of who you are. I came to Ireland looking for myself and found you guys along the way; and that's worth more than any other moment in my entire life.

One last time....
From Dublin, With Love.

The Long Walk Home

Have you ever taken the long way home just to think about things? That's what I did today. After finishing my exams I stayed at the IPA to finish my final paper on Irish elections. By the time I finished and started home it had just barely gotten dark. I took a step outside and felt the crisp winter air hit my face. I knew this was my last walk home. In the distance I heard the shouting of the water protesters and felt as if I was in Cathleen Ni Houlihan hearing the shouting over the hill. I started down Lansdowne Road, but something was different this time. I didn't pick up my quick pace as normal but instead found myself strolling along taking everything in, not worried about my face going numb from the wind. I walked by the Clydecourt and Ballsbridge Hotel. I crossed the inconvenient intersection on the Pembroke Road. I noticed the green glow on the wall of The Den Bar. I walked by the knock-off Chipotle and stopped at the ATM for hopefully the last time in Ireland. I turned left at the Wellington and began my journey down the canal. I watched the water lap against the bank through the reeds. I noticed someone had picked up most of the trash in the reeds. I watched the ducks float leisurely around. I watched the water flow over the lock, which I never actually got to see in action. I criss-crossed through traffic to avoid the missing piece of sidewalk. I watched the bikers fight the wind as they went by the Barge. I walked all the way home, noticing the paint on the houses and lack of leaves on the trees. It's crazy how much goes unnoticed on the roads you walk every day. Finally I turned towards home on Rathmines Road.

I'm going to miss this home of mine.


From Dublin, With Love.

The Week of Lasts

Hey everyone!

I know I missed Monday-Blogday but you'll have to forgive me as I was in the middle of taking a final! This past week has really flown by. This post is just going to be a quick recap, but I promised to keep you updated so here we go. On Saturday I got a tattoo! Surprise! I hadn't really told anyone at home about it but all my friends here were on board. Kelly and Anne were supposed to come watch it go down since they both have been at least considering some ink but they were a bit too hungover to make it down to the shop. Instead John came with me. I knew he'd be fine because he has some pretty big tattoos himself. I just got a triskele on my foot. The triskele is the Celtic symbol for personal growth and development. The three spirals represent your past, present, and future. I think it's a sick piece and it's healing pretty well! This started the long week of lasts. On our last Sunday, we decided to go back to where it all began, Dun Laoghaire. We had spent our first Sunday there and thought it would be a great way to bring it full circle. We did a little shopping and walked out to the end of the pier one last time. Riding the DART past all the beautiful scenery was a solemn reminder that we wouldn't be seeing it again anytime soon :( Sunday night was spent studying for our Politics, Society, and European Union finals which took place on Monday. Then on Monday night Arcadia took us out for our farewell meal. It was three courses and mighty tasty, but there was no free alcohol so we hit the pub afterwards. Instead of Blackbird we opted for the Bleeding Horse, another local place. The ManU soccer match was on so we kicked back with a few pints and enjoyed the game. Tuesday was spent studying for our history and literature finals. Today after finishing my finals I stayed at school to finish up my last paper and turn it in. I never have to make the long walk to the IPA again! It's a bittersweet feeling. Now, I'm just relaxing and trying to strategize how I'm going to pack. See you soon America. Only a few posts left.


From Dublin, With Love.

A Weekend in Bruss(ILL)s

Here we are. The second to last Monday blog-day! Woah! It's absolutely absurd to thing that in less that two weeks I'll be back on American soil. Who's excited?! Anywhoooo... This Monday is dedicated to recapping my weekend in Brussels with my boyfriend John. Yes, you read that correctly. I have been dating an Irishman. His name is John and we met at Blackbird, the local bar, where he's a bartender. But this isn't about that story. 

As an early Christmas present he flew me out to Belgium with him for a weekend of exploring the sites and shopping. We left on Friday morning, or was it Thursday night? Who knows because neither of us had slept. Both of us were absolutely wrecked (Irish for exhausted) but off we went. It was actually ballin to watch the sunrise from above the clouds. Check out my insta! When we got to Brussels we decided to take the train to the B&B that we were staying in. It was only one stop away so we figured it couldn't be that hard. After roaming the streets with a flimsy map for a little we finally found the place. We tried the door code several times but it didn't work! We later realized that we weren't supposed to check in until 2, but a lovely cleaning lady let us in. It was grand! It seems to just be my luck that every place I stay in is a fifth floor freakin walk up, so up we hiked. It was well worth the walk though. It was essentially a mini apartment. I loved it. After a quick nap we decided to go grab some food. This is where my trouble started. Most of you probably don't know but I have ridiculously low blood pressure and sometimes it acts up making me really sick. Of course it happened on this vacation. After almost passing out at dinner we decided it would probably be best to just go back to the apartment. I tried sleeping it off and we wound up watching Total Recall and Mean Girls. Overall not a totallll waste of a day but I was still annoyed with myself for being sick. John, as always, was very supportive and told me not to worry about it. The next morning we woke up to breakfast in bed! The B&B people even emailed us saying sorry for not being able to get in the day before. I was still feeling hella sick but didn't want to waste another day of our vacation. I put on my toughest face and off to the train station we went. We wanted to go to Brugge which is about an hour outside Brussels to visit the famous Christmas markets! I slept most of the train ride but even once we got to Brugge I thought I might pass out. Luckily just as we were trying to make a decision about whether or not we should just go home I finally perked up. John thought I was lying just to make him happy but I swear I was reborn! Hahah. Anyway we spent some time shopping and taking in the beautiful architecture. I grabbed some Christmas ornaments for some of the girls back in Dublin and of course my signature post cards. Instead of climbing the tall bell tower we elected to take in the views of the cities from the giant Christmas Ferris Wheel. I nearly died laughing while John clung on for dear life and just kept freakingg out that he wasn't strapped in. Amidst all that nonsense we really were surrounded by spectacular views of Brugge. We got back on the train shortly after. When we got back to Brussels we ended up stumbling upon the biggest tourist attractions by accident! While looking for somewhere to eat dinner we wandered by the Mannequin Pis, which has become the city's adopted mascot. I think it's a little creepy because it's literally just this little boy peeing into a fountain. The original statue is housed in the King's rooms of one of the two castles in Brussels. Yes two. One for living and one for showing off. Way to go Belgian Royal Family. Then we came upon the Grand Place and saw a breathtaking light show. Even though we were absolutely freezing we had a great time. John stopped at this Belgian beer shop to pick up a few new ones to try. Believe it or not I stayed absolutely sober this weekend! I didn't want to mess with the blood pressure any more than needed. We headed back to the apartment and took turns trying the big box of Belgian chocolates we bought in Brugge. We had told the chocolatier to jus give us an assortment of milk chocolate so we had no idea what we were getting into. Kinda like the movie The Vow if you've seen that haha. After absolutely stuffing ourselves with chocolate we watched a few British game shows on TV and a comedy special. Great Craic. John and I had a hilarious FaceTime session with my best friend at home, Bri. She said John passes the test so don't worry family! We turned in early to be rested for our last day on vacation. After another breakfast in bed we grabbed our bags and headed out to do everything we hadn't seen yet. Luckily I was feeling better. Neither of us were prepared for how arctic cold it would be! It was about freezing air and the wind was brutal. After blundering blindly for a while we finally found the hop-on hop-off tour and got on. We headed out to the Atomium first. It's a huge building that is modeled after an atom of iron magnified billions of times. Each orb on it is to commemorate a Belgian scientist who made some sort of significant contribution to the scientific community. After shaking and shivering for a while we got back on the bus and saw some crazy monuments and churches. On the second half of the tour we drove by the European Parliament and I got some interesting and helpful information for my final next week on the EU! John was bored to tears but knew I was into it hahah he's not big on political science. After the tour was over we grabbed some lunch and headed to the airport. Poor john lost his phone in the last few hours of the trip and was pretty pissed off but we successfully got on the plane and made it home to Dublin (even with some wicked turbulence) It's so sad for me to think that the next time I'll be in the airport I'll be going home! I am beyond excited to see everyone though. 

Overall it was a hot mess of a weekend but me and john both agreed that it was just nice to have a vacation before I go home. I can't thank him enough ( I know he's reading this) for everything he's done for me over the past few months. He's kept me sane and safe and taken very good care of me. I'm gonna miss him a lot but that's why I'm booking a trip back here over spring break! Woohoo! 

Anyway, enough blogging. I have three papers to write and a turkey to cook for friendsgiving tonight! 

From Dublin with Love