I can officially say that an Irishman has swept me off my feet. I will not be returning home engaged to an Irish boy, much to my grandmother’s dismay and my grandfather’s joy, and this did not happen on an actual date, per say. Rather, this was a chance encounter at a coffee shop with my new Irish friend, an elderly gentleman named Dennis.
Allow me to explain how Dennis and I met. It was three o’clock in the afternoon and I was strolling along Grafton Street when hypoglycemia hit me like a ton of bricks. I popped into the famous Bewley’s Grafton Street Cafe for a quick carrot soup and a cuppa (tea that is – I am quite proud of my newly acquired Irish slang). As my tea arrived, the waitress delivered a cup of coffee to the man seated next to me, and we began comparing our daily caffeine intake. My American accent spurred more conversation, and my new friend Dennis shared stories of his youth, his siblings, and his time spent living in Dublin. I barely touched my soup, as I sat enthralled by Dennis’s tales.
Tears came to my eyes as Dennis spoke of his unwavering faith and eternal optimism. “Every morning you wake up is a good morning,” Dennis instructed me as we planned our next “date” at his favorite Sunday mass in Dublin. At that moment, our waitress approached to deliver the checks, but Dennis discreetly signaled to her that he would be paying for my meal. Overwhelmed by his kindness and by the gratitude I felt at my opportunity to share not only a meal with this man, but more so, his wisdom on faith and hope, I managed a “thank you so much…you don’t have to…this is so sweet, thank you.” But Dennis looked into my eyes and with true Irish humility stopped me, “Ehhh, it’s a cuppa and soup.”
Making new friends is a highlight of studying abroad, and they come in all forms and appear in unexpected places. The Irish friends I have met in class fascinate me and I seek their advice on everything from tips on how to survive classes and the go-to destinations in Dublin, to what television shows to watch here (as it turns out, watching Made in Chelsea, the British equivalent of The Hills, has proven a great a conversation starter). The new American friends I have met entertain me and are my ultimate partners in crime, whether we are travelling, checking out local shops, cafes, and pubs, or staying in to watch movies (along with Made in Chelsea of course). It is the unlikely friends, though, like Dennis, that make the study abroad experience pure magic.
Dennis may be a few decades older than me, but I will count him as one of the best friends I made in Dublin. His insights and love of family, innate optimism, and devotion to God touched me in a way that brought me to tears and will forever inspire me. I can say the same about the Bed and Breakfast owner who took me and my roommates in as her own daughters for a night, the restaurant manager who drove my friends and I home after dinner in the Irish countryside to protect us from the dark and rainy evening, and the cab driver who playfully teased my housemates and me as he took every shortcut in Dublin to get us to the airport on time. These are the people my children will hear about someday because they reveal the very best of humanity.
Every person we meet abroad holds a purpose in our lives, and living abroad inspires an openness and bravery when meeting new people. Life can be tricky away from the support of close friends back at the Hilltop, but life away from the security of Georgetown also promotes chance encounters and unlikely friendships with people like Dennis. Thank you, Dennis, for the cuppa and carrot soup, but more than that, thank you for being my friend, and for providing me with a Dublin date that I will hold forever in my heart.