First Week Down
Hello, everyone! Today is Saturday. And do you know what that means? I have officially been in Ireland one week. Woo-hoo! Seven full days now on foreign soil. Only 23 more to go!
Not that I am counting down the days; I'm only trying to be cute here. In all honesty, I am having a wonderful time here experiencing new things and meeting all types of people. If anything, I feel quite relieved to have 3 weeks left, because there is still so much to do. Classes have helped enormously by establishing a routine for me to fall into and somewhere to go. Something nobody tells you about studying abroad is that there is an immense pressure to enjoy yourself at times, and it can be quite straining for someone who is inexperienced. Now, having fallen into step with the going-ons of Maynooth, I feel much more at ease than when I first arrived.
Classes are going very well; I have a wonderful professor and enrolled in a course that is new and interesting to me. Tip: do this yourself if you are studying abroad for the first time. My class is very discussion-based, and I feel that is very helpful because it helps you build relationships with classmates and your professor. The course I am taking is called "Women, Gender, and Society" and [not so surprisingly] the class is comprised of all young women. Although I was slightly disappointed that not even one male dared to venture into new territory, it is enriching to share my own opinions and experiences with being a woman with others who understand and elaborate on ideas. Additionally, I have made a group of friends who I get along well with and who encourage me to try new things while I am here.
And speaking of new lessons, I cannot believe how much a person can learn in one week. It feels as if it was so long ago that I set foot in my first airport, but it has been only seven days. Seven. How can that be? I have done so much, experienced so much- I feel like such a different person already. It is too much to go into so early on, but look later for a contemplative post. I am most eloquent in retrospect, anyway.
Because I have been holding out on you all, below are my top 5 photos from week one. I am no photographer, and the beauty of this place really cannot be captured by a teenage girl holding an iPhone camera, but I hope you will appreciate them anyway.
Above: This is the secret wildflower garden here on campus, conveniently hidden within the castle-like buildings of what we call south campus. The garden was planted to bring back pollinators, and there is a wonderful assortment of them flying around. I have decided to designate it my new reading location.
It seems that petunias are the flowers of choice for decorating in Dublin. This was a particularly beautiful assortment in the middle of the walking street. Seeing flowers used to decorate cities like this feels different than at home- like people plant the flowers to make things beautiful, not just to attract customers. It seems more authentic, somehow, against the stones and statues.
This was the exterior of a museum in Dublin and quite possibly the most beautiful building I have ever seen. Stone cathedrals and structures like this are no rarity here, but the sheer size and scale of this one took my breath away.
This small pond by the train station was so clear, and the lily pads floated like something from a Monet painting. Before this, I could not recall having ever seeing a lily pad in real life, although I must have at some point. At any rate, these were so beautiful that they seemed like the first.
Some scenery from south campus, as seen from our orientation walk. This was a rare sunny moment in Maynooth, and it seemed to make the trees even more vibrantly green against the dark stone. The part of Ireland that strikes me the most is how this new life (the trees, the leaves, the flowers) exists alongside the ancient, not seeming out of place whatsoever.