An ode to Galway.

Well it's official. I am a terrible blog-keeper. I think it's been about 2-3 weeks since I last updated.. but take it as a good sign that I've been too busy out living and not sitting around at my computer! Nothing too crazy has been happening just the usual things: going out, making friends, climbing mountains, exploring town, finding ancient castles, chasing sheep, drinking coffee in little cafes. You know- the usual. I think it took about a month but I feel at home in Galway (it took me about a year to have the same feeling in Kirksville). I love all the colorful shops and cafes and pubs. I love the little streams and rivers that run through town. I love how the city and the people who live in it are warm and welcoming (people are just really kind and decent here- it's genuinely heartwarming). I even really like the weather, which I was surprised about. But don't worry I don't have my rosy-colored glasses on. There are some things I definitely dislike- such as the school system (but let's not get into that quite yet). 

I am trying to work on my history midterm essay right now (so obviously I'm updating the blog) because for the next two weekends I'll be abroad!! Next Wednesday I am leaving for Scotland and next-next Thursday I'm leaving for Paris! I am so excited to see Shayna in Scotland (and to see Glasgow & Edinburgh) and then  PARIS!!! I had several goals for this whole studying-abroad experience. One of them was to feel/make a home of Galway. I have been so so so blessed and lucky with all of the traveling I've been able to in my short twenty years. I've seen so much and I want to continue to travel my whole life. But, I may only get this one opportunity to really integrate and thoroughly live in another culture. There will be time in life to be a tourist, but this may be my one chance at being a local (and I'm proud to announce I've been stopped 4 times here from tourists mistaking me for a local and asking directions!). So this was a big deal for me- to be able to make a home in another culture and to interact/understand/and immerse myself in life here and I feel like I've accomplished it! One of my other goals was to see PARIS! My time here (as of tomorrow) will be half way over. This is crazy! I feel like time is blowing by so quickly. I spent the first half of my time here joining clubs, making friends, going out, exploring Galway and surrounding counties, talking to Irish people, and really living in Ireland. But now that the second half of my time here is approaching it's time to start moving. I have a couple of trips planned around Ireland in November and another possible abroad-trip planned. It's going to get a bit chaotic but it will be worth it. :)

I'm going to get back to trying to write my midterm, but when I need a break I'll come back and post some photos from the past couple of weeks.

Getting Involved

This week was the week that all of the clubs and societies began. To recap I joined a bunch of miscellaneous societies (or socs as they're called here) as well as the Karate Club, the Kayaking Club, and the Mountaineering Club. I went to as many things as I could this week and I loved them all. No one else I knew wanted to do the same things as I did, so I went to everything on my own and I met incredibly nice and friendly people. I may not stick with Karate (timing), but I love Mountaineering and Kayaking (however, I am a little daunted by the cold, cold waters on a rainy fall day). I love being part of a team and that's what Kayaking really feels like. They taught us the basics of how to move around down the river and then made us do trust-building exercises (such as forming a circle on the river and then have people try to switch kayaks, playing games, trying to stand up, ect). Most of these resulted in being overturned into the cold river, but with a wet suit it was just a lot of fun (until we got out of the water.. brrrr!). They even made us fully overturn and submerge (for safety reasons) but after they gave us soup so all was forgiven. Mountaineering was by far the coolest thing I've done here so far. When we got to our destination in the heart of the Connemara I couldn't stop taking pictures. It looked like a postcard and the weather was gorgeous. That was the first time I've been steadily hiking up a steep incline for a couple of hours since the Olympic Peninsula several years ago (so my body was a little unprepared) but luckily theses three weeks of walking everywhere have made my legs strong so I wasn't too sore on Monday. To reiterate, the scenery was actually breathtaking. I took about 200 photos and none of them came close to capturing the vastness, the feeling of accomplishment, the feeling of standing there on the Earth looking out at distant green mountain ranges and just letting that wash over you. You feel so peaceful and light looking out at everything. I just wanted to sit there all day.

 

This was my favorite photo. SO BEAUTIFUL!

I completely understand how people get hooked, and I think I am. I'll be back this Sunday and the next. But I'm not sure about after that. This is the problem and the joy of studying abroad. You can't possibly do everything :). I want to fully immerse myself into Irish culture. I want to join clubs and go on weekend-away trips with them. I want to feel part of something and at home. I also want to travel. I want to see every part of Ireland so that when I leave I have no regrets. I want to get over to Europe as often as possible. I want to fully experience the nightlife and make lots of friends from all over the world. And I also want to get acceptable grades while I'm here, haha. It's not possible to both immerse yourself and to constantly be leaving- but I'm going to try. Side note-> I have met and made friends from folks from the following countries: Ireland, Canada, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Holland, Spain, France, Ireland, Belgium, and of course The States. Most of the people I meet are from Germany, France, and the US. I think maybe I'm a friendly person, but I find it really easy to make friends. If you are kind and sincere when getting to know someone chances are they will reciprocate and -presto!- a friend. In fact I need to be wrapping this blog up because I'm going out tonight with a couple of really nice girls I met mountaineering on Sunday :).

On that note I love the nightlife of Galway. The main nights to go out are Monday, Wed, and Thursday which may seem a bit weird to people back home. Back at Truman I would usually go out every other weekend opting to watch movies and bake/eat goodies with friends rather than party. But here it can be such a relaxed environment it's really fun to go out and grab a couple of pints at a cozy pub and chat with lots of people or catch some trad music. Tonight the Mountaineering Club is meeting at Bierhaus Pub from 10-12 (it is totally normal for clubs to meet late like this out on the town). Tomorrow Kayak Club is meeting at the College Bar from 9+ and then on Thursday it's nationwide Arthur Guinness Day (and craic will be had!). It should be said that not everyone experiences this. Some people (mainly Irish girls) dress up in tight tight dresses and high heels and party hard every night in clubs (American Sorority girls have nothing on Irish girls).

I'm starting to itch to travel. I'm here in Galway this weekend as well as next because I have an all day field trip with my Castles class on Saturday. But after that I'm ready to get going! There's so much I want to do and see. I almost feel like two weekends here is too much! I'll have to make the most of it by going Mountaineering (every Sunday)! It's crazy that time is starting to pass so quickly. I don't really have any homesickness anymore, just an urge to see everything! This is such an amazing, wonderful opportunity that I have in my life- I don't want to waste one hour of it. (And so I'm off to the pub) :)

The Perks of Being a Tourist

Let it be stated, once again, that I am not very good at keeping journals/blogs. I am going to sincerely try to update this about every week. I can already tell you I won’t have any flowering prose or well crafted paragraphs. I’ll just give blurbs about what I’ve been up to and leave it be (that way I’ll actually write them). [[Fair warning: this entry may be a bit longer because I've been doing a lot this week. I will not be offended if you decide not to read all of it (nor will I know)]] :).

This week my parents made a stop in Galway on their Ireland-tour. It was really, really wonderful* (insert warm-homey adjective here*) to see them and my Aunt and Uncle Tuesday night and spend the day together on Wednesday. I skipped my History lecture (which probably wasn’t a great idea) and my Archeology lecture (which doesn’t matter), stowed away on their tour bus, and headed off to the Aran Islands with them. I was excited to see my first glimpse of the Connemara as we drove through on the way to the ferry (and of course- to hang out with my parents). Once we arrived at Inishmore (one of the three Aran Islands) the sun came out in all of it’s glory. The weather was absolutely perfect. The Irish landscape is stunning. It really is how it's depicted and described in works of art. The grass is about 20 different shades of green and there are little stone walls that separate fields. Here are some photos from Inishmore, I’ll probably put a lot more up on facebook when the mood strikes me. 

I really love the stone walls here. Apparently thousands of years ago the landscape was all rock (specifically since the last Ice Age 11,000 years ago). So the farmers, to get the stone off the land, moved it all to the sides which later became territory dividers (aka fences).

 

Just a random shot showing the Island. Even though this is the biggest of the three Aran Islands- it was only 8 miles in diameter. Lots of people bike around here, but I don't envy them. Lots and lots of hills.

Not sure if this would even be legal in the States. There is no rope, no protective barrier. Just you and the sea. As the Irish say 'mind the wind'. 

Shout-out to my Aunt and Uncle :)

Being tourists. :)

More stone walls that I'm obsessed with. 

The ancient Seven Churches.

My mom almost being left behind. Typical. 

There was such a feeling standing on the Earth looking out at the fields and the ocean- I don’t know how to describe it. It wasn’t exactly ‘peaceful’, although it was very calm and still. I’m not sure if ‘peaceful’ does the Irish land justice. Learning from the culture and from my classes starting around 700 (Viking invasion) the Irish have literally fought for every square inch of their land. Those ancient battles don’t seem so far away when you see thousands of ruins standing today alongside modern buildings. There is an ‘oldness’ to the land, something you don’t really glimpse back home unless you’re near mountains or deep in an old forest. There’s a vast stillness/power to those places that stand through time, and it humbles you. There is also grit to the land and the people. The weather and landscape of the West is harsh. People who live here are survivors. It is not some picturesque living-by-the-ocean-without-a-care-in-the-world type of place tourists assume it to be. And you can feel that in the energy of the place. I love it. But enough of a rant..

Back to business. When I said goodbye to my parents on Wednesday I got hit with my first real wave of homesickness. I was pretty sad for a little bit. But on Thursday I picked myself up and threw myself into school. I maybe was a bit too overzealous, but I have now signed up for: mountaineering club, surf club, kayaking club, skydiving club, international student society, the nothing  much society, cooking society, organic gardening society, archeology society, film society, and the trad music society. Woo! Don’t worry, I won’t be going to all of them- ha. I am excited to start getting into school (like a true nerd) :).

Things in Galway (as the Irish say) have been grand and I've been having the craic. I'm meeting lots of people- mainly international students. I think there is a deeply ingrained security in befriending people from your home culture, but where's the challenge in that? And now that I feel more secure in having friends and people to go out with I am spending more time on my own. Sometimes I really love being by myself and doing things by myself (but only when I have the knowledge that I have friends I could hang out with if I wanted to). I like wandering around, eating at cafes, finding bookstores (I think I've found all of them in Galway), or just sitting by the river all on my own. Here are some pictures I took with my iPhone around and about. 

 Sums up my experience of my first Irish-club experience perfectly. Started off a relaxed Tuesday- having a couple of pints in The Kings Head- chatting and meeting lots of people. Night ends up at a dancing club with lots of people, doing some brightly colored shots, and a little blurry (but don't worry caring parents- nothing too crazy). :)

The fourteen original tribes of Galway.

Soaking up some sunshine and caffeine by the River Corrib. 

The famous Spanish Arch that's been left untouched since 1584.

I am starting to really feel at home walking around the streets of Galway.

The answer is yes. There are little old men in pubs everywhere wearing these kinds of hats and trying to flirt with you. Just the way it is.

I’m already losing my steam for writing all of this, so I’ll keep it short. I really wanted to explore outside of Galway this weekend. My roommate Elles in is Cork with some German friends, so I texted Erika to see what she was up to. So that's how I ended up along with Erika, her two roommates (Chloe and Teresa), and her boyfriend (Doug) touring the Cliffs of Moher and The Burren today. Needless to say it was awesome. I'll probably come back and edit this to be a little more descriptive- but here are a couple of shots. 

 A fairy fort.

I can completely understand how this landscape gave rise to mythology about leprechauns and the fairy folk with the quiet soft rainfall and mystical green-ness. 

The Burren- meaning Rocky Place in Irish.

First view of the cliffs while in Doolin.

Apparently there have already been 12 deaths since January, and they just found the body of a German girl who fell off a couple days ago. 

 So naturally we climb closer. 

 Feeling like a champ :).

That's about all I have in me to write. Check back next week for more :)