I have officially been in Ireland for one week! It feels like it’s been so much longer.

Sunday through Wednesday morning, I stayed in Dublin for orientation through Arcadia University. We had the afternoons off to sleep or to explore, so I explored until I couldn’t stay awake any longer.  I didn’t take a lot of pictures because I was afraid of getting my camera wet in the rain, so you’ll have to take my word for it, but I saw: the Millennium Spire, Grafton Street (a nice shopping center), the Guinness Brewery, St. Stephen’s Green, Trinity College, Temple Bar area, the Bank of Ireland, the Parnell Statue, and the Famine Statues. I probably saw some more things but didn’t know what they were.

Then Wednesday, the Arcadia staff drove us three hours across the country to Galway. In the brief waking moments on the bus, I saw lots of sheep, cows, horses, and rolling green hills.  From then until today, I’ve been busy with orientation at the National University of Ireland, Galway, henceforth known as NUIG, and exploring the town.  In a lot of ways, I thought coming to Ireland would be fairly easy–I mean, they speak English.  But it turns out they don’t.  There’s the small things, like calling a stovetop a hob or pants trousers, but then there’s the building names in Irish (like Aras Ui Chathail) that are embarrassingly difficult to pronounce.  The school system is different (more on that when I figure it out!) and cities are laid out different, since they are older than the grid system.  So this first week in Ireland, I’ve been learning how to navigate it all, physically and otherwise.

While it’s challenging, it’s a good challenge.  I’m loving all that I’m learning!  I walked around campus, the Galway Cathedral, down to the Atlantic Ocean, and all around town.  The swans in the canal, the little children all buddle up in strollers, Christmas trees and lights still up on Shop Street… Beautiful!  My two roommates and I only have a half sized refrigerator and you have to carry everything you buy and things spoil more quickly here = I’ve gone to the grocery store at least once a day so far.

Here’s what I’ve been eating so far: 1) Fish & chips from Burdock’s in Dublin, 2) Ham toastie (toasted sandwich) with carrot soup at Kelly’s in Galway, 3) Breakfast toastie (fried egg) with tea at Mocha in Galway, 4) Donut with cocoa powder from a vendor at the Farmer’s Market in Galway. Delicious!

Location: Headford Rd, Galway, Ireland