Home Sweet Galway

I’ve been in Galway for almost a week and have only just now had a spare second to write something! I landed in Dublin and immediately found people from my program. Poor Claire and Una stopped at the O’Connell House early to pick up their bags and Robert (the director there) sent them back to the airport with my heavy bags on top of theirs- it worked out great for me though! We loaded up all of our stuff on the bus and it was a longgg ride to Galway but it was fun to catch up with Claire and Una on their pretravel adventures in Greece. Once we got to our accommodations at Goldcrest on campus, we were finally allowed to know who we were living with. Una, Rachel, and the three boys and I are in one flat with our own private bedrooms and bathrooms and shared common area and kitchen. Literally directly across from us is Claire and the other five girls in the program. It couldn’t have ended up more perfect!

The rest of the day was spent shopping for essentials like SIM cards and bed sheets downtown and then we got dinner as a program. The next day our program took us on a food and drink tour of Galway which is honestly a great way to get to know a city. We had everything from doughnuts and carrot cake at Griffins Bakery to Irish whiskey and poitin at McCambridge’s to tea from Cupán Tae and oysters from Tigh Neachtin (the one and only time you will ever get me to eat a slimy oyster but it was actually really good considering!) The girls in our apartment cooked a feast for our newly established “family dinners” and the boys cleaned it all up.

Tuesday and Wednesday were free days that we spent just settling into the apartment, unpacking and exploring downtown some more. It is a solid 1.5 mile walk to town, which feels a lot longer when it’s cold and rainy but oh well! We went back to Griffins for brunch one of the days and I had my first traditional Irish breakfast: rashers, sausages, eggs, and black pudding- Una is very Irish and wouldn’t let me look up what black pudding was until I tried it first… GROSS!

Thursday was a veryy full day. We woke up bright and early for our first day of international orientation. It was supposed to be 5 hours long but Lisa, our director, busted us out early and took us on a boat cruise around Galway harbor. It was with a lobster fisherman so he let us pull up a couple pots too! We were basically on Deadliest Catch… Then we explored an old Claddagh Cottage and saw restoration being done on one of Galways famous hooker boats. It was off to Salthill after that for a yummy program dinner and then Trad on the Prom! It was incredible- so many world renowned Irish musicians and dancers performed right in front of us. I have a much greater respect for Irish music and dance now.

Friday was round two of orientation, but this time it was a little more important because it was our academic orientation hehehe. We got our ID cards early in the morning (two early days in a row was killer…) and then the day was split up so you could go to hear about the individual courses that you’re interested in taking. Classes and courses are not interchangeable words here- instead of saying class they say module and instead of major they say course. The orientation was more confusing than helpful though so as I write this on my first day of class I’m only registered for two but I’ve attended five. For science and sociology I have to hand register (at two separate times in the day) but for history and English I can register online (but the website crashed for a solid 5 hours after it opened). Apparently the vibe here is more of a try classes for the first couple weeks and see if you like them BEFORE you register which is bizarre coming from America. I’m in the same boat with all the other international kids though! Speaking of which, I have befriended so many Americans and have yet to befriend any of the Irish kids… this must be a big American catholic school destination because all of my new friends here are from Villanova, BC, St. Joe’s, and Holy Cross.

Saturday I went to the Cliffs of Mohr with Claire, Una, Rachel, Tommy, and Chris and it was INCREDIBLE. It was the most beautiful day ever- so sunny and warm all day. Literally the only time I have gone so many hours without seeing rain. We had told Lisa (our director) we were going to the Cliffs of Mohr and she encouraged us to do the Cliffs of Mohr and Burren tour with the Galway Tour Company. I’m so glad she did! It ended up being way cheaper than taking public transportation and buying admission to the cliffs and we did so much more. We stopped to see the Dunguaire Castle and the Gleninsheen Wedge Tomb. We also stopped at Kilfenora to see the famous Celtic Crosses (Irish High Crosses) and got lunch in the coastal village of Doolin. Then it was finally off to see the 200-metre high, 8kms long Cliffs of Moher. I’m still not over how stunning the views were of the Atlantic Ocean and the Aran Islands. And because it was such a spectacular day out we could go beyond the boundaries and go out onto the edge of the cliffs (although Una and I always stayed a few steps behind the boys who literally stuck their heads over the edge…). After walking most of the Cliffs we found a little grassy patch and sat there for a while just soaking in the sun. Nobody wanted to leave when it was time to go!

Sunday was a very chill day. We woke up late and spent forever figuring out what times our modules met and where (I kid you not this is the most complicated system I have every witnessed I cannot even begin to describe it). Claire, Una and I walked downtown to go to the farmers market and I bought LOTS of plants to spruce up our common area and decorate my room. That night the boys in our apartment cooked us dinner which was much appreciated- we are definitely going to make this a weekly thing! Since it took me forever to write this update about my first week I couldddd keep talking about how my classes are going, but I’ll save that for the next post!