At the beginning.

On Saturday August 31, Abby Cliff and I stepped onto a plane at the Philadelphia Airport to embark on a journey that I had always dreamed of. About 7 hours later, on Sunday August 1, I got off the plane terrified about the next four months.

Spending a semester in Ireland had always been a dream of mine, but the reality of it, and the fact that I wouldn’t see home for four months was a little hard to deal with. Would I make friends? Would I go on the grand adventures I’d always hoped I would? Or would I spend the next four months sitting in my apartment, wishing for home? The answer was soon clear.

After taking a bus to from Dublin to my new home, Limerick, I met up with the Americans who were part of my program. I quickly realized that I would have no trouble finding people to spend time with. First there were my American friends, nine of us from all over the US, from San Diego to another Pennsylvanian. We soon adopted a Canadian girl with whom we became fast friends. And before long an International Students Night at the pub led to us having some real Irish friends!

The Irish, from what I can tell, are a very friendly people, always willing to help out a confused and lost looking foreigner, and swap stories over a pint or a coffee at a local pub. Although we have learned that they, especially the men, are frequent tellers of “Irish truths,” which one of our Irish friends, Tony, defined as being a bit like a lie, but always based in truth.

Being here only one week means I haven’t had much time for adventure. But I did take a trip into the city of Limerick to tour a castle and a beautiful old Cathedral. The Cathedral, St. Mary’s, is over 800 years old, or as Abby and I like to call it,” four Americas old”.

People talk about culture shock and I always felt that it would be a big thing that would hit me all at once. But in reality, it’s just the little differences in the way they do things that catch me off guard. For example, where we would go out on Friday and Saturday nights, Irish students party on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays because almost all of them leave university on the weekends to go back home. Which means campus is virtually empty on weekends, except for us internationals and few Irish who live too far to go home.

                I’ve only been here one week , but already I feel like I never want to leave this beautiful country and its people. Though it’s cold and rainy, it is full of something that I’m not sure how to describe.  It’s as if the whole country is full of charm. Its green hills, dotted with sheep and cows, its castles, its quaint Irish towns, and its interesting and colorful people. I have no right to call this place home, but I’m beginning to feel like I could.