The past month has been eye opening and hectic. I decided to start this blog, (and website) to easily share my experiences so far. Since I'm already a month in, I am going to share each week, and some important events and anecdotes, (prepare to laugh). Here it goes:
orientation week
Day 1
We (20 Plymouth State University students and our advisors) arrived at Shannon airport around 6:30am on September 1st, 2015. This plane ride was bumpy, squished and super uncomfortable, but I made it in one piece. We then took a bus to the University of Limerick.
We are living in town house style apartments in Kilmurry Village (pictured above), with six bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room and a kitchen. I live in a house with five other girls, one being from Germany and the rest from the US. I'm so thankful for our living situation as everyone is super nice and (most importantly) clean.
My room is made up of a bed, desk, wardrobe and sink. It is spacious and I have already made it feel like home. On the first day, we decided to go to the store because we had no bedding. Two of my housemates and I hopped onto a bus to go into Limerick city, hoping to find our way to a department store. When we finally found Dunne's, an equivalent to Wal-Mart, we grabbed duvet covers, pillows, sheets, pillow cases, towels, hangers, facecloths, and some toiletries.
We checked out and were given paper bags to carry all of our new stuff back to Kilmurry Village. The bottom half of Dunne's is a grocery store, so we also decided to grab some necessities for the kitchen and a couple meals until we could make it to the store again later in the week. Not knowing that we had to bring/buy our own bags, we decided to put the groceries into these paper bags along with all of the stuff we had just bought upstairs, at first sounding like a fine idea- less bags, less things to carry. We made it about 20 feet outside of the store until I heard the "rrrrippp" of my brown paper bag. I looked down, everything was still in one piece. I took two more steps, hoping to make it to the other side of the crosswalk, and then I heard the ripping sound again, followed by the slow motion of a 1/2 dozen eggs smashing onto the pavement and losing my raspberries to a broken bottle of dishwashing soap.
Aside from this poor tragedy I was so thankful (and embarrassed) when locals started coming up to me and giving me plastic bags, for the rest of the stuff that was still in one piece (mostly). They gave me a great first impression on Limerick and Ireland, and I am so very thankful for people like them.
The Weekend
Needless to say, there was lots of drinking, dancing, and bonding happening this weekend.
Alyssa :)
International night
Cider!
I also discovered the Milk Market in Limerick City, which is filled with fresh fruits, vegetables, cheese, meat, and Irish street food and is my FAVORITE thing to do each week.
week 1
Classes
Here's what I'm up to:
I'm taking three courses with UL, and two with PSU.
My Irish classes consist of Traditional Irish Music and Dance (I'm taking real Irish dance classes, and after two years of not being in a studio, it feels SO good!), Irish Folklore, and Introduction to Sociology.
With PSU, we are taking a Latin American Literature class, and a Critical Thinking seminar with a focus on our Ancestry; did I mention I'm royalty?
Everything is so different here but for my very first semester of college I'm super impressed and happy with the circumstances.
week 2
King John's Castle
After a long two weeks of scheduling, adjusting and pure chaos, Teagan, Alyssa and I went to explore Limerick City and King John's Castle. It was beautiful!
Inside the museam with Teagan
Highest part of the castle
I'm truly enjoying my time here and I am so thankful for all of the opportunities and experiences I have had, and also for all of the people I am meeting along the way.
Stay tuned, I will try to post as much as possible for the next 2 1/2 months.
-Janet