I have a rule that I never like to be up before the sun. I have broken that rule many times here in pursuit of wonderful destinations. This 5am wake up call was for Dingle, a tiny little town in the Southwest of Ireland, and as I groggily walked to the bus station, I hoped this trip would be worth it. We got on our tour bus and headed off. Our first stop was in Killarney, a cute Irish town filled with adorable shops and kind people. We found a pub called The Shire a Lord of the Rings themed bar which I can only describe as other worldly. I'm convinced that once we stepped into The Shire we truly did enter into another realm because the sights I was about to see were truly out of this world. After Killarney we went to Inch Beach and I could not believe how excited I was to see the Atlantic Ocean again. I practically ran off the bus onto the sand and let the ocean breeze fill my lungs. I looked out to the sea and knew that my home was there on the other side. Standing on the shore reminded me of when I was looking out onto the Galway Bay beside a tribute to the Great Famine. I pictured my ancestors in that exact same spot looking out into the ocean before they set sail to America. My heritage has always felt so unknown and shrouded in what ifs. It was then that my ancestors felt like real tangible people, not some unimaginable past I could not comprehend. Being in Ireland has connected me to my lineage in ways I would not have imagined and I am so grateful for that. Now back to the trip. We rode along until we were now on a tiny road with a mountainside on one end and a devastating plummet to the sea on the other. While this was as equally beautiful as it was terrifying, our next stop would make it all worth it. The bus driver stopped beside a sign that sign 'Hold a Baby Lamb' in which I replied, "Yes please!!" We went up to this family's farm and my dream of holding a lamb finally became a reality. We then headed for Dingle Peninsula, a place I can only describe as breath taking. I could try to paint you a word picture but I'll just let this photo do the talking. Our final stop was in the town of Dingle. Quaint and coastal, Dingle did not disappoint. We dined on fresh seafood and savored the last bit of homemade ice cream from Murphy's, content with the amazing day we had. On our way back to Galway, the most beautiful rainbow I have ever seen shot across the sky. Every color was vivid and it fully formed across the entire sky. We literally drove through the rainbow and I wanted to pinch myself because this all seemed too good to be true. For first time I actually saw the end of the rainbow and while there was no pot of gold, I felt remarkably rich.
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I arrived at Newark airport filled with nerves and Ruby Tuesday's (a sort of 'last supper' with my parents before they sent me off). I had gotten there hours in advance due to my obsessive nature and my father's neurotic driving and now all there was to do was wait. Luckily, my friend Erin was there to accompany me in what was to be the longest 24 hours of our lives. Our flight arrived 20 minutes late, a detail we did not think much of until we landed in Scotland 6 hours later with only 15 minutes left to catch our connecting flight. We later learned that the gates to our connecting flight had closed before our plane had even landed but before that useful fact was known, we sprinted through the airport desperate to try and catch our flight. Our demise came when a cheerful Scottish Customs worker told us our flight had already left. He said this in such a cheery tone that it sounded as if he was going to part the Red Sea of people in front of us and get us an express pass to get on our flight. Once his words truly dawned on us, we were filled with dread. How on earth were we going to get to Ireland now?
We went to the customer service desk to find that the airline only makes that flight once a day from Scotland and that we were going to have to get a flight to Cork instead, four hours later. So we spent most of the day in an airport in Scotland waiting for what seemed like an eternity. After we landed in Cork we took a 4 hour bus to Galway and arrived around 10pm, a full 10 hours later than we were supposed to arrive. Despite all our misfortune and sleep deprivation, we made it out okay. Ireland seemed to be testing us in ways we could not have imagined and it was only day one. I am happy to say that I have yet to have a day worse than my arrival date. Having that experience showed me that not everything about studying abroad was going to be sunshine and butterflies but it most definitely will be a journey. |
AuthorI'm Angelisa. I am studying at NUI Galway for the semester and writing about my experience. Archives
June 2017
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