Uh Oh.. Finals Are Coming

   You read it right; I finished my last week of classes and in just a couple weeks I will be taking the last two final exams of my study abroad time! While I was here, I was taking five classes, three of which I am now finished with and down to studying for my last two. Finals coming up also means two things; 1) I come home in less than a month, and 2) I go on my last couple vacations very soon!

   So... Am I ready to come home? I've been asked this question many times and I don't really have a perfect answer for it. Of course I'm excited to come home and see my friends and family as well as get back into the swing of what I am used to, however, in the past few months I have fallen in love with Ireland and I don't want to leave. My time here seemed to have flown by and I feel like I should still be in week 5 of classes.

   As many of you already know, my parents came to visit me during my Easter break. I absolutely loved showing them around my campus and around this beautiful country and having them see what I always talk about. We spent the week road tripping around Ireland so they could see all the different parts Ireland has to offer and just like myself, they loved the countryside the most!

   Studying abroad has definitely taught me some lessons aside from what I learned in lectures. I learned straight away that just because your mom and dad are 3,769 miles away, doesn't mean you aren't going to get sick! I also relearned a lesson I had learned back in my first year of college and that is, go make friends! I was fortunate enough to meet two of my closest friends at the London Heathrow airport on my way over here, and many more during my first month as well. I also learned how hard it is to travel and go on vacations. We can all take a moment to remember how funny it was when Carley and I thought we were going to be stuck in Barcelona, Spain that one time, but I have definitely learned from that experience! Another lesson I learned was how to manage my money well enough without a job. During jr. high and high school, I wasn't the best at saving my money, but I knew coming over here I was going to have to still pay bills when I got home and tried saving my money as best I could. This included not buying every souvenir tee-shirt I saw.

   I have 28 days left to get in 5 more countries and I couldn't be more excited! So stay tuned for more adventures from my time abroad!

The Week My Parents Come!!

   Well, we started week 11 here at the University of Limerick which just happens to be the week my parents come to visit! My parents have been planning this trip since before I came over so the countdown has been on for a while now. The arrival of my parents is just one more difference I am experiencing from back home. I don't live in the same town as my parents so when they come to visit it's a big deal, sure, but we usually end up going to a college game, out to eat and then just hang out. It's always a casual event and the only big planning I ever do is planning when to clean my house! Since my parents have never been to Ireland before, we have all decided on taking a road trip around Ireland so they can see as much as possible in the time they are here. This has been a stressful event planning, from figuring out accommodations, to decided what town to hit on which day, and even down to buying tickets to different attractions such as the Blarney Castle, Cliffs of Moher, and others. I sat down one day and made an hour to hour itinerary which has all the details of this next week in it. My parents have been a great help with scheduling accommodations, but they asked me to figure out which places to go since I am over here and know the best places around. This has given me an idea of what it is like planning a vacation and even though we have not gone on this road trip yet, it has helped me a lot for other weekend trips!

Blarney Castle

   It amazed me how easy it was to travel here. Back in the states, it's almost four times as expensive going to another state as it is going from Ireland to some country in Europe. I have really taken advantage of being over here and seeing the different countries, but planning a vacation on my own, or with one or two friends, has been slightly stressful and very interesting of an experience. Spain was the only trip where the transportation was very messed up and we had a major delay, but other than that I feel like I've done pretty well! However, I now understand why my parents are so stressed when they plan family vacations!

   One day, while scrolling through Pinterest, I found a quote by Anthony Bourdain; "Travel isn't always pretty. It isn't always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that's okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind." I read this quote about three times before pinning it to my board because I needed to hear it. I came here excited and nervous at the same time, but I had never traveled on my own before. I've been going on family vacations every year since I was 8 years of age, but I never went on my own. Anywhere. I've learned since then that it is hard. Travel is a challenge, but it's a good challenge. Planning trips and traveling on your own is hard, and scary, but it has been the best thing I have ever put myself up to.