From September 5th to December 18th, I was lucky enough to call a small town in Ireland my home. Living in another country for three and a half months was both daunting and exhilarating, especially since it was on a continent that I had never been to before.
Life in Ireland was ridiculously similar to life in the United States. People hang out, go to classes, and visit coffee shops, just like my friends in Denver do. The Irish even have their own slang, specifically the word “craic”, pronounced crack; which is used in the context of “good craic”. Despite its phonetic companion, it does not relate to drugs, but it is the Irish way of saying something was a good time, or good fun.
Whenever, it was sunny, my new friends and I would plan trips, or go to Dublin to hang out in the city for a day. We would go sit on the “beach” in Bray, hike in Howth, visit Malahide castle; whatever we did, we always made sure to take advantage of whatever sunlight we could. After taking some day trips around Ireland, I can truthfully say that the nickname the “Emerald Isle” is not an exaggeration. From getting to see Giant’s Causeway in the north, the cliffs of Moher in the west, Blarney in the south, and Wicklow in the east, I can honestly say there is greenery covering the country in all directions. This is hardly a surprise considering how much it rains there though, which was probably the hardest part of living in Ireland.
After going from an area of Texas that is in a drought more often than not, and Denver, an area that spends 300 days out of the year in perpetual sunshine, experiencing the gloom and doom weather of Ireland was not particularly a fun experience. However, I do take responsibility for this as I was told over and over again how much it rained there, but having never lived in an area that receives rain in regular amounts throughout the year, I was convinced it wasn’t a relevant factor. *Spoiler* I was wrong. Whenever the rains were particularly heavy, I would try and avoid going outside as much as possible; which is not a viable option when it was ALWAYS raining. So I got to experience soggy tennis shoes when it started raining spontaneously, broken umbrellas when the wind was strong, and becoming familiar with the walls in my apartment whenever we received torrential downpours.
Despite some of the downsides, I would consider my experience in Ireland to be a great one. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it “life-altering” or “sensational”, because it felt a little too similar to life in the U.S. Nonetheless, the experience itself was still an entertaining and informative one. It was within my comfort zone, and while I wish that I would have been willing to put myself in a situation outside of what’s comfortable, I don’t regret my decision to study abroad in Ireland. It led to good times, good views, good friends, and some great Craic.