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) :)