End of Week 6 Update

   I think Cesare Pavese said it best when he said "Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things: air, sleep, dreams, sea, the sky. All things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it."

   Whenever I would tell people I was coming to Ireland by myself they would respond in awe saying "wow, I couldn't do that" or "why would you do that?" I always just laughed them off and went about my day not really putting much thought into it. I knew it was going to be a challenge, but as my mom always said, I am woman, hear me roar!

   The best thing University of Limerick is how involved they get the students. There are events every night at the Stables (one of the pubs/restaurants on campus) as well as weekend day trips provided by the Student Union. There are also tons of clubs and societies on campus which helps you meet people as well. But it's not just campus, the student body is so friendly here. I was always told to make friends with people from America so you have that normality, but also make friends with people from Ireland or other countries. I always laugh when an Irish student asks me something about class and when I respond they look shocked because I have an American accent. It's almost as if they want to hear about our culture as much as I want to hear and learn theirs as well.

   The way the semester is set up much differently than I am used to at Upper Iowa, so as we get to midterms, it's getting a little more stressful. UL has a week long event called Charity Week each year around this time. There are tons of events during this time and it's all day long so you can go have fun in between your classes if you want. The events range from contests to runs to hypnotists to concerts and it is a huge break for students (handy it comes right at midterms this year!).

   As always, I am planning more and more trips to places around Ireland as well as to other countries in Europe! The attached photos are from my day trip to Ennis, Ireland this past Saturday. For those of you who have started counting down: 86 days until I fly home!

Stone Wall

Franciscan Abbey (in Ruins)

Bridge over River Fergus

It's Been 3 Weeks Already?!

   Wow has this time flown by! I'm already 3 weeks in and I can't believe it. As I recapture these past few weeks it amazes me what experiences I have already had and how accustomed I have gotten to this culture and their schooling system. Back home, I have 2-3 classes per 8 week term which meet Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for an hour and 15 minutes. We have set times and no class starts during the middle of another so there is rarely a scheduling conflict. Our advisers also guide our schedules and tell us which classes are best to take for each term. Here, there's a new lecture each hour even though some lectures go for two or three hours. We also have to schedule lab or tutorial times between those lectures. We also create our own schedule and turn in a paper to the international office during week 2 so we can be officially registered. I now hold a greater appreciation to any adviser who makes schedules for students. It is confusing! Almost as confusing as our main building is set up.

   I have been to the city of Limerick enough times to get my grounds figured out, however, I still get lost every now and then. This week I have an appointment at the immigration office to get my visa. This will allow me return to the country if I leave for a weekend trip or anything like that.

   I have been to Killarney, Ireland and have many more trips planned for this semester. Of course, school is the reason I am here, but there's no harm in doing a little traveling while I'm over here! I have attached a few photos from my trip to the Killarney National Park below. I hope you enjoy them!