Summer in Dublin

    After a few weeks of being back in Poughkeepsie, and with my college friends, I've found myself surrounded by reminders of my time in Dublin.  After 8 weeks of constant engagement with the same small group of people, the initial switch back to normal life felt anything but normal. My tiredness hit me as soon as I got home - I was worn out from our absurdly busy days of the summer.

    The typical weekday started with a 6:45am alarm, though at first the jet-lag and 5am sunrises acted as alarms of their own.  By 7:30, I would leave with Jocelyn to walk to the Carmichael house, where our group of 7 students would have our classes.  

(Carmichael House, Dublin 7)

    In all honesty, classes were far more difficult than I expected - the first course was allotted 3 weeks, as was the second course. Our third course, an online class, was expected to be finished on our own time during the trip.  

    By noon, class was finished for the day, and we were free to live our day on our own terms.  The walk back home passes a Lidl (supermarket), so our Mondays would usually lead us on a grocery shopping trip, which was always shockingly cheap in comparison to American grocery prices.  By the time we got home, we would usually settle into our groups of friends and try to get some homework out of the way. Unfortunately, the homework load was heavy so we weren't able to make it out as often during the week, but we would try to explore the areas right around where we lived. In that area we could find cool local pubs, and meet people from our area.  

    Despite this workload, everything still felt like a social occasion, which could be exhausting at times, but made chore-like activities much more fun. Jocelyn and I usually cooked dinner together, and though it sometimes resulted in the fire alarm being set off, it typically ended in a pleasant meal. We definitely had our fair share of Irish potatoes with our meals.  

  

(Unsupervised Popcorn)

    Weekends brought me some of my favorite memories. Two of our weekends were pre-planned by Marist, and brought us to Western Ireland (Galway and the Aran Islands) and Northern Ireland (Belfast and Derry). Irelands natural beauty made cause for many hikes, some of which were flat and easy, and others being so steep you're practically climbing. One of my favorites was at the tip of Northern Ireland - Carrick a Rede - so far north that you can see the Scottish coast across the water.  The trail walked us along the cliffs of the coastline, passing by floral fields and groups of sheep. The end of the trail brought us to a rope bridge, which crosses to a tiny island with spectacular views of the cove.  

(View to the east of the bridge)

          (View of the bridge from the island)

    Weekends also gave us a chance to explore the nightlife of Dublin, where there are over 700 pubs. Late nights were supported by the walkability of the city and their easily accessible public transportation. In my experience, Dublin felt far safer at night than any day or night in LA or New York, even when alone.  Our group of 4 explored tourist spots and local spots alike, and made efforts to enjoy everything the city had to offer. One weekend brought us to MMA fighter Conor McGregor's pub, the Black Forge Inn, where we dropped in on a lucky night and got to meet Conor himself.

 

(Luke and Conor McGregor)

    The next morning, we woke up and headed out to the city outskirts to attend Longitude, which I would consider the Irish equivalent of Rolling Loud. Though many performers were local UK/Irish artists, two of my personal favorites were performing, and the concert experience was unforgettable. 

(Carti with an Irish Flag thrown from the pit)

(A$AP Rocky performing A$AP Forever)

    Outside of Ireland, we were able to explore France with cheap flights through European airlines. Weekends became bonding opportunities, and the trip ended having brought me a few more close friends, and a million memories.